A  SUCCESSFUL  VENTURE 


BOOKS  BY  ELLEN  DOUGLAS  DELANO. 


MALVERN.  A  Neighborhood  Story.  341  pages. 
With  five  Illustrations  by  ALICE  BARBER  STEPHENS. 
Cloth.  #1.50. 

A  SUCCESSFUL  VENTURE.  340  pages.  With 
five  Illustrations  by  ALICE  BARBER  STEPHENS. 
Cloth.  $1.50. 


I  ALWAYS  KEEP  MY  ENGAGEMENTS.' 


SUCCESSFUL  VENTURE 


BY 

ELLEN    DOUGLAS    DELAND 

AUTHOR  OF  "  MALVERN,"   "  OAKLEIGH,"  ETC. 


'Jog  on,  jog  on  the  footpath  way, 

And  merrily  hent  the  stile-a. 

A  merry  heart  goes  all  the  day, 

Your  sad  tires  in  a  mile-a." 

SHAKESPEARE 


ILLUSTRATED  BY 

ALICE   BARBER  STEPHENS 


BOSTON 

W.  A.  WILDE   &   COMPANY 
25  BROMFIELD  STREET 


COPYRIGHT,  1897, 

BY  W.  A.  WILDE  &  COMPANY. 

All  rights  reserved. 


A  SUCCESSFUL  VENTURE. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  MRS.  WENTWORTH  WARD  VISITS  GLEN  ARDEN  .        .  9 

II.  THE  STARRS  HOLD  A  FAMILY  COUNCIL       ...  26 

III.  A  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE     ....  44 

IV.  KATHERINE  AS  A  FINANCIER 61 

V.  PETER  SEEKS  INFORMATION 81 

VI.  PETER'S  NEW  ACQUAINTANCES 99 

VII.  VICTORIA  GOES  IN  SEARCH  OF  FUNDS.        .        .        .117 

VIII.  UNEXPECTED  GENEROSITY 134 

IX.  SOPHY  HAS  AN  ADVENTURE 153 

X.  THE  NEW  NEIGHBORS  ON  THE  HILL    .        .        .        -171 

XI.  VICTORIA  DECIDES  TO  KEEP  IT  SECRET       .        .        .  188 

XII.  ROGER  MADISON  TELLS  A  STORY         ....  206 

XIII.  PETER  MEETS  WITH  A  SERIOUS  ACCIDENT  .        .        .  224 

XIV.  SOPHY  WAYLAYS  ROGER  MADISON        ....  242 
XV.  VICTORIA  MEETS  WITH  DIFFICULTIES  ....  261 

XVI.  MIDNIGHT  MARAUDERS 281 

XVII.  ON  THE  RIVER       .        .       .        .        .        .        .        .  301 

XVIII.  MRS.  WENTWORTH  WARD  CHANGES  HER  OPINION      .  320 

5 


2229180 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGB 

"'  I  always  keep  my  engagements  '  "  .         .        Frontispiece       14 

"  The  girls  and  Peter  could  see  Katherine,  who  sat  in  the 

hall  below " 79 

"  '  It  is  a  gem '" 136 

"  There,  beneath  one  of  the  old  trees,  she  found  a  rustic 

bench" 188 

"  She  found  her  eldest  sister  sitting  on  a  rustic  bench,  under 

the  trees,  with  her  work  in  her  hands  "...     269 

7 


A  SUCCESSFUL  VENTURE. 

CHAPTER   I. 

MRS.    WENTWORTH    WARD   VISITS    GLEN   ARDEN. 

IT  was  raining  heavily,  and  a  strong  wind  from 
the  northeast  blew  the  drops  with  relentless 
force  against  the  dining-room  windows.  The  few 
leaves  that  remained  upon  the  trees  were  fast  drop- 
ping, falling  in  sodden  unloveliness  upon  the 
drenched  lawn.  It  was  a  day  for  all  those  who 
could  do  so  to  remain  within  doors. 

The  four  girls  were  in  the  dining-room.  It  was 
the  most  cheerful  place  in  which  to  sit  on  a  rainy 
day,  and  the  fire  that  burned  on  the  hearth  lighted 
up  the  room,  and  gave  it  an  aspect  of  cosiness  that 
was  very  pleasant. 

Honor  Starr,  the  eldest  of  the  family,  was  lying 
upon  the  sofa,  which  had  been  drawn  forward 
from  its  usual  corner  and  placed  within  reach  of 
the  warmth.  She  had  a  book  in  her  hand,  al- 

9 


10  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

though  she  was  not  reading  at  the  moment.  She 
also  held  a  bottle  of  camphor,  which  she  applied 
frequently  to  her  nose. 

Sophy,  the  youngest  sister,  who  was  only  eight 
years  old,  sat  at  a  table  near  the  side  window, 
brandishing  first  a  large  pair  of  shears,  and  then 
a  paint  or  a  paste  brush,  while  sheets  of  tissue 
paper,  of  every  hue  known  to  a  maker  of  paper 
dolls,  lay  about  her  on  the  floor,  and  were  mingled 
with  the  contents  of  an  overflowing  waste-basket 
which  had  just  been  upset. 

Katherine,  who  was  eighteen,  and  who  came 
next  in  age  to  Honor,  had  been  showing  to 
her  sisters  a  very  handsome  silver-backed  hand- 
glass, which  she  had  bought  the  day  before  in 
Boston,  and  apparently  there  had  been  some  argu- 
ment on  the  subject,  for  Katherine's  pretty  face 
wore  a  perturbed  expression,  and  she  glanced  some- 
what resentfully  at  Honor,  who  was  then  devoting 
herself  to  the  camphor  bottle  with  conspicuous 
attention. 

Victoria,  the  third  sister,  a  girl  of  fifteen,  knelt 
before  the  fire,  to  which  she  energetically  applied 
the  poker.  Victoria  was  apt  to  use  energy  in  the 
smallest  affairs  of  life.  The  girls  were  all  dressed 


MRS.    WENTWORTH  WARD    VISITS   GLEN  ARDEN.       n 

in  black,  which  perhaps  added  to  the  effect  of 
dreariness  caused  by  the  weather. 

"Surely,  she  won't  come  to-day!"  said  Kather- 
ine,  laying  down  the  mirror  and  going  to  the 
window,  whence  a  view  of  the  drive  was  to  be  had. 
The  house  was  set  low,  and  was  at  some  distance 
from  the  main  road.  The  avenue  leading  to  the 
house  wound  in  and  out  among  the  trees,  but 
there  was  one  portion  of  it  which  was  open,  and 
could  be  seen  easily  from  the  windows.  This  open 
space  Katherine  was  watching  with  scrupulous 
care. 

"  A  dog  wouldn't  put  his  nose  out  of  doors  to-day, 
if  he  could  help  it,"  she  continued. 

"  Aunt  Sophia  is  no  dog,"  observed  Victoria, 
coming  behind  her  and  peering  over  her  shoul- 
der ;  "  she  is  a  Woman,  spelt  with  a  capital  W ; 
therefore  wind  and  weather  will  never  keep  her 
at  home.  I  heard  the  whistle  of  the  train,  ages 
ago.  And  —  yes,  there  she  is !  " 

"  Oh ! "  exclaimed  the  four  sisters  together,  as 
a  depot  carriage  came  rapidly  into  sight  and  was 
then  lost  again  among  the  trees. 

"  Sophy,  do  straighten  up  that  table !  Your 
chips  are  everywhere !  And  pick  up  the  waste- 


12  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

basket ! "  cried  Katherine,  turning  hastily  from 
the  window.  "  Why  did  you  choose  to-day  of  all 
others  to  make  paper-doll  dresses  ? " 

"  Why,  Kathie,  you  know  I  always  play  paper 
dolls  on  Saturday,  especially  if  it  is  a  rainy 
one!"  exclaimed  Sophy,  with  reproachful  empha- 
sis; "and  you  told  me  yourself  — " 

"  Children,  don't  waste  the  time  in  useless  argu- 
ments," interrupted  Victoria.  "  Aunt  Sophia  is 
here,  and  we  ought  to  have  been  ready  for  her, 
for  we  might  have  known  she  would  come. 
Honor,  it  will  give  her  fifty  fits  on  the  spot  if 
she  finds  you  on  the  sofa  reading  a  novel  at 
this  hour.  Do  get  up  and  look  brisk,  even  if 
you  don't  feel  so !  " 

Victoria  was  flying  about  the  room,  as  she 
spoke,  moving  a  chair  here,  and  straightening  a 
rug  there,  beating  up  a  down  pillow  which  still 
bore  the  indentation  left  by  the  last  person  who 
had  leaned  against  it,  and  whisking  out  of  the 
way  the  large  box  which  was  standing  open 
upon  the  table. 

"  Here  is  your  bargain  of  a  silver  handglass, 
Katherine.  I  advise  you  to  keep  that  well  out 
of  Aunt  Sophia's  sight,"  she  said;  and  then  steps 


MRS.    WENTWORTH  WARD   VISITS   GLEN  ARDEN.       13 

were  heard  upon  the  piazza,  the  front  door  was 
opened,  and  there  came  in  at  the  same  time  and 
with  equal  force,  Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward  of 
Boston  and  a  strong  gust  of  wind  from  the 
northeast. 

"  Why,  Aunt  Sophia ! "  exclaimed  Honor,  ris- 
ing slowly  from  her  sofa,  which  was  in  full  view 
of  the  hall.  "  Is  it  really  you  ? " 

"  It  is  really  I,"  replied  her  aunt ;  "  and  who 
else  should  it  be,  or  why  should  it  not  be  I  ? 
How  do  you  all  do?  Honor,  what  is  the  matter 
that  you  are  lying  down  at  this  hour  of  the  day? 
Victoria,  take  my  waterproof  to  the  kitchen  to 
be  dried,  if  you  please.  Katherine,  your  hand, 
while  I  take  off  my  overshoes!  Sophia,  come 
here,  child,  and  give  me  a  kiss !  You  smell  of 
flour  paste  and  are  very  sticky.  What  have  you 
been  doing?  There,  now  I  am  ready  to  sit 
down." 

She  walked  into  the  dining-room  and  placed 
herself  in  a  large  chair  at  a  discreet  distance  from 
the  fire.  She  was  a  tall  woman  —  all  the  Starrs 
were  tall — and  of  proportionate  width.  Her  fore- 
head was  broad  and  high,  and  above  it  the  gray 
hair  was  parted  and  brushed  smoothly  back  on 


14  A  SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

either  side  of  her  face.  Her  nose  was  rather 
large  and  was  perfectly  straight,  her  teeth  were 
exceptionally  good,  and  her  complexion  might 
have  been  called  "high  colored."  She  was  presi- 
dent, or  vice-president,  or  at  least  director,  of  no 
one  knows  how  many  charitable,  literary,  and 
musical  societies  in  Boston,  and  she  was  noted 
for  her  rare  executive  ability.  Among  the  other 
things  which  she  tried  to  manage  were  her  nieces 
the  Starrs,  and  she  found  them  by  no  means  the 
least  difficult. 

"  You  are  brave  tp  come  to  the  country  on  such 
a  day  as  this,"  murmured  Honor,  sinking  again 
upon  the  sofa,  but  not  actually  lying  down.  She 
was  conscious  that  she  was  inviting  censure  both 
by  speech  and  action. 

"  I  always  keep  my  engagements,"  replied  Mrs. 
Wentworth  Ward.  "  If  women  did  not  keep  their 
engagements,  what  would  become  of  mankind  ? 
Ten  days  ago  I  wrote  on  my  memorandum  cal- 
endar for  November  third,  '  Glen  Arden,  9  A.M. 
train.'  A  woman  should  be  as  exact  as  a  railroad 
time-table,  whatever  the  weather.  It  is  the  only 
way  to  accomplish  anything  in  this  world.  The 
9  A.M.  train  has  arrived,  and  so  have  I." 


MRS.    WENTWORTH  WARD    VISITS   GLEN  ARDEN.        15 

She  paused,  but  no  one  spoke.  It  was  appar- 
ent that  she  intended  to  enforce  a  lesson,  and  she 
gave  her  nieces  a  moment  in  which  to  digest  it. 
In  the  meantime  Victoria  returned  from  her  ex- 
pedition to  the  kitchen  with  her  aunt's  waterproof, 
and  as  she  entered  the  room  she  glanced  hastily 
about. 

Victoria,  though  only  fifteen,  was  keenly  sensi- 
tive, and  it  seemed  to  her  that  the  intellectual  at- 
mosphere was  surcharged  with  a  high  explosive, 
ready  to  go  off  with  a  loud  report  should  a  match 
be  applied  to  it.  She  was  quite  sure  that  her  aunt, 
held  the  match  and  had  come  to  Glen  Arden 
this  rainy  day  for  the  express  purpose  of  striking 
it. 

"  And  now  to  business,"  said  Mrs.  Wentworth 
Ward  —  she  preferred  that  the  two  names  should 
be  mentioned  in  conjunction.  "  As  you  may  sup- 
pose, I  had  an  especial  purpose  in  coming  out 
here  to-day.  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion,  and 
I  think  your  guardian  will  fully  agree  with  me, 
that  you  cannot  live  here  any  longer." 

Yes,  it  was  just  as  Victoria  had  suspected. 
Aunt  Sophia  had  struck  her  match,  and  an  explo- 
sion had  promptly  followed. 


!6  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  And  why  not,  may  I  ask  ?  "  demanded  Honor, 
sitting  upright  upon  the  sofa. 

"  How  perfectly  absurd  !  "  exclaimed  Katherine, 
with  a  vehemence  that  was  scarcely  respectful. 

"  Oh,  Aunt  Sophia,  you  are  trying  to  frighten 
us ! "  remarked  Victoria,  assuming  an  air  of  gaiety 
that  appeared  forced. 

"  But  we  don't  want  to  live  anywhere  else,"  added 
Sophy,  as  if  that  reason  were  conclusive.  Sophy, 
being  only  eight,  had  not  yet  fully  realized  the 
aunt  for  whom  she  was  named. 

Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward  looked  from  one  to  the 
other  of  her  four  nieces.  She  appeared  to  be  quite 
unmoved  by  their  excitement.  There  can  be  no 
surprise  for  the  one  who  strikes  the  match  on  occa- 
sions of  this  kind,  and  Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward  prided 
herself  always  upon  being  equal  to  an  occasion. 

"  I  felt  so  at  the  time  that  your  father  died,"  she 
continued,  "but  I  said  nothing.  There  was  no 
one  who  could  come  here  then  to  live  with  you, 
and  it  was  not  convenient  for  me  to  ask  you  to 
live  with  me ;  but  in  the  three  months  which  have 
elapsed  since  then,  I  have  reached  a  decision.  It 
is  my  way,  as  you  know,  to  think  over  my  plans 
carefully  before  making  them  known  to  others. 


MRS.    WENTWORTH  WARD   VISITS   GLEN  ARDEN.        IJ 

I  have  thought  them  over,  and  now  I  tell  you. 
It  is  neither  seemly  nor  proper  —  and  there  are 
other  reasons,  too,  which  make  it  impossible  —  that 
my  nieces  and  nephew  should  continue  to  live 
here  alone.  By  the  way,  where  is  Peter  ? " 

Peter's  sisters  did  not  seem  inclined  to  reply, 
until  Victoria,  fearing  lest  the  silence  should  exas- 
perate her  aunt,  volunteered  the  information  that 
he  was  down  at  the  barn. 

"  He  went  an  hour  ago  to  attend  to  his  rabbits," 
she  said.  "  I  suppose  he  is  there  still." 

"Did  he  not  know  that  I  was  coming?"  asked 
her  aunt.  "  Why  rabbits  when  I  am  expected  ? 
But,  after  all,  that  is  neither  here  nor  there.  You 
are  all  to  come  and  live  with  me.  In  other  words, 
my  house  shall  be  your  home  henceforth.  Honor 
shall  act  as  my  secretary.  Honor,  you  have  the 
ability,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  you  should  not 
turn  it  to  account,  instead  of  spending  your  time 
on  a  sofa.  Indeed,  I  have  not  yet  been  told  why 
you  are  on  the  sofa.  Are  you  ill  ? " 

"  I  have  a  cold.  But,  Aunt  Sophia,  suppose  I 
don't  care  to  be  your  secretary  ? " 

"  I  cannot  suppose  anything  so  impossible,"  re- 
turned Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward,  imperturbably ;  "  for 


1 8  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

of  course  you  will  be  only  too  glad  to  do  some- 
thing for  me  in  return  for  the  many  advantages 
which  life  in  town  will  give  you.  Katherine  can 
perfect  herself  in  music,  at  the  same  time  taking 
charge  of  the  bric-a-brac.  That  shall  be  her  duty. 
I  have  decided  it  all." 

"  So  it  appears,"  observed  Katherine.  "  I  inva- 
riably break  bric-a-brac  when  I  handle  it.  I  should 
advise  you  to  make  a  different  arrangement." 

"  Victoria  shall  continue  to  go  to  school,"  con- 
tinued her  aunt,  ignoring  this  suggestion.  "  In 
fact,  she  and  Sophy  and  Peter  are  to  go  to  board- 
ing-school. I  have  already  written  and  made  the 
necessary  arrangements.  They  can  spend  their 
holidays  with  me  on  Beacon  Street.  I  shall  take 
you  into  society,  when  our  period  of  mourning  is 
over.  Next  winter  you  can  begin  to  go  out  a 
little.  In  fact,  you  can  go  to  concerts  this  winter, 
and  to  lectures.  It  will  be  quite  proper.  I  intend 
that  your  minds  shall  be  improved.  Honor,  what 
is  that  book  which  I  see  peeping  from  beneath 
your  pillow  ? " 

The  awkward  pause  which  followed  was  broken 
by  Victoria,  who  hastened  to  divert  her  aunt's  mind. 

"  Poor   Honor  has   such    a  cold,"  said  she.     "  I 


MRS.    WENTWORTH  WARD    VISITS   GLEN  ARDEN.        19 

gave  her  some  of  your  remedy,  Aunt  Sophia,  and 
it  has  worked  wonders.  Did  you  tell  us  to  take 
it  every  three  or  every  four  hours  ? " 

"  Every  three  hours,  until  the  cold  begins  to 
mend,  and  after  that,  every  four.  You  did  quite 
right,  Victoria.  There  is  nothing  like  it.  I 
cured  your  uncle  once  in  less  than  a  day  and  a 
half.  And  what  did  you  say  was  the  name  of 
the  book,  Honor  ?  " 

"  I  doubt  if  you  have  ever  heard  of  it,  Aunt 
Sophia,"  said  Honor,  as  she  drew  it  forth  from 
its  hiding-place.  "The  name  of  it  — " 

"  Oh,  please  don't  stop  to  discuss  books ! " 
cried  Katherine.  "  There  is  something  else  far 
more  important  to  be  talked  about.  We  don't 
want  to  go  to  Boston  to  live,  Aunt  Sophia.  We 
don't  want  to  be  your  secretary  and  dust  your 
bric-a-brac.  We  don't  want  to  go  to  boarding- 
school." 

Mrs.  Wentworth    Ward    looked    at   her   calmly. 

"  My  dear,  that  makes  no  particular  differ- 
ence," said  she.  "  We  cannot  always  do  what 
we  wish.  I  am  your  father's  sister,  and  it  is 
proper  that  you  should  live  with  me.  It  was 
very  much  like  your  father  to  omit  making  me 


20  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

your  legal  guardian.  Why  he  should  have  ap- 
pointed Dickinson  Abbott  instead  of  me,  I  can- 
not imagine,  but  he  did,  and  what  is  done  cannot 
be  undone.  However,  that  is  neither  here  nor 
there.  I  offer  you  a  home  with  me.  You  are 
too  young  to  live  here  alone,  and  there  are  other 
reasons  against  it  also.  It  is  quite  out  of  the 
question." 

A  profound  silence  followed  this  speech.  The 
plan  proposed  by  their  aunt  was  so  appalling 
that  the  girls  were  unable  to  collect  their  ideas 
sufficiently  to  reply.  Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward  took 
out  her  watch. 

"  I  must  return  in  the  next  train,"  said  she. 
"  I  have  a  charity  association  meeting  at  half 
after  eleven.  I  preferred  to  see  you  all  together 
and  tell  you  this,  rather  than  send  for  one  of 
you  to  come  to  me,  or  rather  than  write  to  you. 
This  room  looks  rather  disorderly,  I  think. 
Honor,  that  is  a  wretched  waitress  of  yours. 
When  you  come  to  Beacon  Street,  I  will  give 
you  lessons  in  housekeeping.  This  place  had 
better  be  rented ;  you  cannot  keep  it  up  other- 
wise. Katherine,  what  have  you  been  buying?" 

The    lady    had    risen    and    had    been   walking 


MRS.    WENTWORTH  WARD   VISITS   GLEN  ARDEN.       21 

about  the  room  on  a  tour  of  inspection,  while 
she  thus  criticised.  She  was  standing  now  in  a 
little  recess  formed  by  the  window  curtain.  On 
a  table  within  it  was  the  silversmith's  box,  the 
lid  half  off,  and  in  the  paper  which  had  wrapped 
it,  the  address  "  Miss  Katherine  Starr "  being  in 
full  view.  The  tissue  papers  which  covered  the 
contents  were  ruthlessly  drawn  aside  by  Mrs. 
Wentworth  Ward,  and  the  silver  mirror  exposed 
to  view. 

"  Surely  you  have  not  been  buying  this ! "  she 
exclaimed,  holding  it  up  and  looking  first  at  her 
own  countenance  reflected  in  the  one  side  and  then 
at  the  large  monogram  of  "  K.  R.  S."  engraved 
upon  the  frosted  surface  of  the  other. 

"  Why  yes,  Aunt  Sophia !  Why  not  ?  "  returned 
her  niece. 

"  How  much  did  you  give  for  it  ? " 

"  That  is  an  awfully  odd  question,  Aunt  Sophia, 
but  fortunately  I  don't  mind  telling  you.  It  was 
only  fifteen  dollars.  It  is  a  gem,  isn't  it,  for  the 
price  ?  And  it  matches  the  rest  of  my  silver  beau- 
tifully." 

"  But  where  did  you  get  the  money  to  buy  such 
a  thing  as  this  with  ? " 


22  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  Aunt  Sophia!     My  own  money,  of  course." 

"  Your  own  money !  Then  let  me  tell  you, 
Katherine,  that  there  is  very  little  money  for  you  to 
call  your  own,  and  none  to  throw  away  on  silver 
handglasses.  I  really  don't  know  what  you  are 
thinking  of,  nor  Dickinson  Abbott,  either  !  When 
you  come  to  live  with  me  I  shall  teach  you 
economy." 

"  When  we  do !  "  murmured  Katherine,  as  she 
replaced  the  glass  in  its  wrappings  and  put  it  back 
in  the  box.  Fortunately  the  rustle  of  the  paper 
rendered  her  remark  inaudible. 

"  Honor,  it  is  absurd ! "  continued  Mrs.  Went- 
worth  Ward.  "  What  do  you  mean  by  allowing 
Katherine  to  spend  money  in  this  way  ?  You  are 
simply  a  parcel  of  children,  and  it  is  more  than 
time  that  there  was  some  one  to  keep  you  in 
order." 

"  Katherine  has  a  perfect  right  to  spend  her 
money  as  she  pleases,  Aunt  Sophia,"  said  Honor. 
She  had  been  remonstrating  sharply  with  her  sister 
upon  this  very  subject  before  the  arrival  of  their 
aunt,  but  now  she  warmly  espoused  her  cause  in 
the  presence  of  their  common  enemy.  "  It  is  her 
money.  I  have  nothing  to  say  about  it." 


MRS.    WENTWORTH  WARD    VISITS   GLEN  ARDEN.       2$ 

And  she  again  removed  the  stopper  of  the  cam- 
phor bottle. 

"  Nonsense !  you  are  the  eldest  of  the  family, 
and  the  responsibility  lies  with  you.  That  eternal 
application  of  camphor  is  bad  for  you,  Honor.  It 
does  not  really  cure  you,  either.  The  relief  is  only 
temporary." 

"  It  may  be  temporary,  but  is  very  pleasant,"  said 
Honor;  "as  pleasant  as  anything  can  be  when  one 
has  a  bad  cold." 

"You  will  come  to  me  the  first  of  December," 
continued  Mrs.  Ward,  paying  no  further  attention 
to  these  matters  of  minor  importance,  but  reverting 
to  her  chief  topic.  "  Peter  and  the  younger  girls 
will  go  next  week  to  school,  as  the  term  has  begun, 
and  no  time  should  be  lost.  It  will  be  just  as  well 
to  have  them  out  of  the  way  when  you  are  closing 
up  here." 

"But,  Aunt  Sophia,"  cried  Honor,  "you  can't 
really  mean  all  this !  Why  should  we  do  it  ? 
Why  should  we  leave  our  home  ?  Why  can't  we 
stay  on  here  as  our  dear  father  intended  we 
should  ?  I  am  twenty-one,  and  quite  capable  of 
looking  after  the  others,  and  the  children  are  well 
placed  at  school.  You  are  very  kind  to  make  all 


24  A  SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

these  arrangements  for  us,  but  though  we  thank 
you  very  much,  we  don't  want  to  accept  them. 
We  prefer  to  stay  as  we  are." 

"  Victoria,  kindly  see  if  the  carriage  has  come 
back  for  me.  I  told  the  man  to  be  here  without 
fail,"  said  Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward,  snapping  the 
lid  of  her  watch  as  she  spoke.  "  Katherine,  help 
me  with  my  cloak,  if  you  please.  Is  it  dry  ?  Ah, 
yes,  Honor,  when  you  see  Dickinson  Abbott,  you 
will  be  made  to  understand  why  these  arrange- 
ments have  become  necessary.  It  is  easy  to  talk 
of  living  on  here,  but  it  requires  money  to  do 
that  —  money,  and  you  have  scarcely  a  cent.  The 
carriage  has  come,  Victoria  ?  Very  well,  then, 
good-bye !  Tell  Peter  he  should  have  come  in 
to  see  me.  You  will  hear  from  me  again  next 
week.  In  the  meantime  you  had  better  begin 
your  packing.  I  will  come  out  and  help  you  to 
put  the  house  in  order  to  let.  I  am  sorry  I  have 
not  time  to  stay  longer,  but  after  all,  further  dis- 
cussion is  unnecessary." 

And  again  the  front  door  was  opened,  again 
the  northeast  wind  blew  in,  and  Mrs.  Wentworth 
Ward  of  Boston  went  out. 

The  door  had  scarcely  closed  behind  her  when 


MRS.    WENTWORTH  WARD    VISITS   GLEN  ARDEN.       2$ 

that  leading  from  the  back  of  the  house  to  the 
hall  was  carefully  opened,  and  a  boy's  face  appeared 
at  the  crack. 

"  Has  she  gone  ? "  inquired  the  owner  of  the 
face  in  a  loud  whisper.  "  I  say,  Vic,  has  she 
gone  ? " 

But  Victoria  did  not  reply.  She  had  hastened 
to  rejoin  her  sisters  in  the  dining-room  after 
bidding  her  aunt  good-bye,  and  they  were  now 
looking  at  one  another  in  consternation.  What 
did  Aunt  Sophia  mean  ? 

Peter,  seeing  for  himself  that  the  coast  was 
clear,  sauntered  into  the  room. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE    STARRS    HOLD    A  FAMILY   COUNCIL. 

TDETER  STARR  was  the  only  boy  among  four 
sisters.  Had  he  been  questioned  closely 
upon  the  subject,  he  probably  would  have  replied, 
"  Yes,  and  there  are  four  too  many ! "  This  is 
what  he  would  have  said,  perhaps,  but  it  is  doubt- 
ful if  such  a  reply  would  have  been  altogether 
truthful.  Peter's  sisters  were  very  useful  to  him, 
at  times,  although  there  were  occasions  when  it 
would  have  been  pleasant  to  do  exactly  that  which 
he,  and  he  alone,  wished  to  do,  instead  of  being 
dragged  in  four  different  directions  by  the  con- 
flicting opinions  of  his  four  sisters. 

Sophy  he  could  manage,  it  was  true,  and  Vic- 
toria he  thought  he  managed,  though  sometimes 
it  occurred  to  him  to  wonder  if  Vic  were  not  in 
reality  managing  him,  unknown  to  himself.  But 
Honor  and  Katherine  openly  defied  him,  and 
were  fond  of  ordering  him  about  in  a  manner 
which  was  annoying,  to  say  the  least.  Peter  spent 

26 


THE  STARRS  HOLD  A   FAMILY  COUNCIL.  2J 

the  greater  part  of  his  time  in  endeavoring  to 
frustrate  the  plans  made  by  Honor  and  Katherine 
in  his  behalf. 

To-day,  fortunately  for  him,  Honor's  cold  pre- 
vented her  from  being  aware  of  the  odor  of  the 
barn  which  accompanied  him  into  the  room,  and 
Katherine  was  too  much  absorbed  in  the  conversa- 
tion to  remark  upon  it.  Victoria  and  Sophy  did 
not  notice  those  things. 

"  Has  the  ancient  war-horse  gone  ? "  asked 
Peter. 

"  My  dear  boy,  you  oughtn't ! "  remonstrated 
Honor;  "indeed  you  shouldn't  call  her  that." 

"  Why  not  ?  I  am  sure  she  is  ancient,  and  she 
is  a  war-horse,  for  she  loves  a  battle  and  the  sound 
of  prancings.  She's  always  arguing  about  some- 
thing or  other.  What  was  it  to-day  ?  I  heard 
her  talking,  so  I  stayed  in  the  kitchen  till  she 
had  gone." 

Honor  tried  to  look  shocked,  but  the  others 
laughed  audibly  and  then  quickly  became  silent. 

"We  had  better  send  for  Mr.  Abbott,"  said 
Victoria,  "  and  find  put  just  what  Aunt  Sophia 
means.  If  she  only  could  have  taken  time  to 
explain  to  us  a  little ! " 


28  A  SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  That  is  a  good  idea,"  said  Honor  and  Kath- 
erine  together. 

"We  will  telegraph  him  this  morning  and  ask 
him  to  come  out  as  soon  as  possible,"  added 
Honor.  "  Perhaps  he  will  come  this  afternoon." 

"In  all  this  storm?" 'asked  Victoria,  glancing 
at  the  weather. 

The  rain  was  descending  in  torrents,  pattering 
on  the  tin  roof  of  the  piazza,  and  pouring  in  a 
steady  stream  from  the  water-spout. 

"Why  not?"  said  Honor.  "Aunt  Sophia 
came,  and  Mr.  Abbott  doesn't  mind  weather. 
You  know  he  told  us  to  send  for  him  whenever 
we  needed  him,  and  I  am  sure  we  need  him  now. 
Probably  he  will  come  out  this  afternoon.  Peter, 
put  on  your  rubber  coat,  please,  and  be  sure  to 
wear  your  rubber  boots." 

"  What  for  ?  "  asked  Peter,  calmly.  "  I  am  very 
comfortable  as  I  am." 

"  To  go  to  the  station  with  a  telegram,  child,  of 
course !  Vic,  give  me  a  pencil  and  paper,  please, 
and  I  will  write  it.  I  wish  you  would  get  some 
.telegraph  blanks,  Peter.  Do  bring  some  home 
with  you,  for  they  are  such  a  convenience.  Now, 
let  me  see.  'Mr.  Dickinson  Abbott,  —  State 


THE    STARRS  HOLD  A   FAMILY  COUNCIL.  29 

Street,  Boston.  Aunt  Sophia  has  been  here  and 
has  told  us '  —  dear  me,  that  is  nine  words  before 
I  began  to  tell  him  what  she  has  told  us,"  said 
Honor,  biting  the  end  of  her  pencil. 

"  Oh,  there  is  ever  so  much  you  can  scratch 
out,"  said  Katherine,  taking  the  paper.  "  '  Sophia,' 
for  one.  He  knows  we  have  only  one  aunt  —  for 
which  blessing  let  us  be  thankful !  '  Aunt  has 
been  here  and  says  —  'no,  ' Aunt  here  and  says 
we  must  go  there  to  live  because  — ' ' 

"Will  it  do  to  put  all  that  in  a  telegram?" 
queried  Victoria.  "  Why  not  just  say,  '  Please 
come  and  see  us ;  we  want  to  talk  to  you  on  matters 
of  importance.' " 

"  That  will  do  very  well,"  said  Katherine,  writing 
it,  "  and  only  fifteen  words.  Those  extra  five  won't 
cost  much  more." 

"  We  could  leave  out  '  please,'  "  said  Victoria. 

"  That  wouldn't  be  polite." 

"  It  isn't  necessary  to  be  so  very  polite  in  a  tele- 
gram," remarked  Honor,  as  she  erased  the  word, 
"  and  if  it  is  true  that  we  have  no  money,  we  had 
better  begin  at  once  to  be  economical.  And  we 
could  say  '  important  matters,'  instead  of  '  matters 
of  importance.'  That  would  bring  it  down." 


3O  A  SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  And  save  five  cents,  I  suppose,"  laughed  Kath- 
erine,  derisively.  "  However,  far  be  it  from  me  to 
frustrate  your  good  intentions." 

"  There,"  said  Honor,  laying  down  her  pencil  and 
reading  the  amended  message ;  " '  Come  see  us. 
We  want  to  talk  on  important  matters.'  Exactly 
ten  words,  and  now  my  name  —  'Honor  Starr.' 
Peter,  are  you  ready  ?  Why,  you  haven't  stirred ! 
Peter!" 

And  all  his  sisters  with  one  voice  exclaimed 
reproachfully,  "  Peter !  " 

"  Well,  what's  the  matter  with  Peter?"  inquired 
that  youth  as  he  extended  first  one  foot  and  then 
the  other  to  the  genial  warmth  of  the  blaze.  He 
was  sitting  in  an  arm-chair  before  the  fire.  He 
was  leaning  back,  and  his  hands  were  in  his 
pockets.  Peter  was  tall  for  his  age,  which  was 
thirteen,  and  well  developed.  His  hair  and  eyes 
were  brown,  as  were  those  of  all  the  family  but 
Victoria,  and  he  looked  very  much  like  Kath- 
erine. 

"  Why  are  you  not  ready  ?  You  know  we  want 
you  to  go  to  the  telegraph  office.  There  is  no 
time  to  be  lost,  for  Mr.  Abbott  will  have  gone 
home.  It  is  Saturday,  and  you  know  he  always 


THE   STARRS  HOLD  A   FAMILY  COUNCIL.  31 

leaves  the  office  early  on  Saturday.  Do  hurry, 
Peter ! " 

All  the  sisters  were  talking  at  once,  even  Sophy 
adding  her  voice  to  the  clamor. 

"  Keep  cool !  keep  cool !  "  remarked  Peter,  con- 
tinuing to  warm  his  feet ;  "  who's  the  telegram  to  ?  " 

"  Mr.  Abbott,  you  know,  Peter ! " 

"What  for?" 

"  To  ask  him  to  come.  You  have  heard  us  talk- 
ing, Peter !  Surely  you  are  not  deaf.  Do  hurry  !  " 

"  What's  the  use  ?     You  needn't  telegraph  him." 

"Why  not?  Oh,  don't  stop  to  argue,  you  dread- 
ful boy ! "  cried  Katherine.  "  Just  go  at  once. 
We  want  Mr.  Abbott." 

"  Well,  you're  going  to  get  him,  and  I'm  not 
going  out  in  this  storm  when  there's  no  reason 
for  it.  Mr.  Abbott  is  coming  this  afternoon." 

"  Why,  Peter,  how  do  you  know  ? " 

"  A  telegram  came  from  him  this  morning.  I 
was  at  the  station  when  it  came,  and  the  operator 
read  it  off  to  me  while  it  was  coming,  as  he  said 
it  was  to  us.  I'm  going  to  learn  telegraphy  some 
day.  It  must  be  lots  of  fun  to  read  all  the  mes- 
sages and  know  what  everybody  is  telegraphing 
about." 


32  A  SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

He  was  searching  in  his  pockets  as  he  spoke. 

"  I  must  have  left  it  down  at  the  barn,  but  it 
was  only  to  say  he  was  coming  on  the  two-twenty 
train.  I'll  get  it  when  I  go  down  to  give  the 
rabbits  their  dinner." 

"  I  don't  think  there  ever  was  such  a  provoking 
boy  as  you ! "  exclaimed  Honor,  lying  back  upon 
the  sofa,  quite  exhausted  by  her  brief  moment  of 
activity  in  writing  the  telegram.  "  If  you  only 
could  have  told  us  this  before !  " 

"  You  didn't  ask  me,  and  you  didn't  give  me  a 
chance,  either,"  responded  Peter.  "  And  now  I 
wish  you'd  tell  me  something.  What  is  all  this 
fuss  about,  and  what  do  you  want  Mr.  Abbott 
for?  What  kind  of  a  shindy  has  the  war-horse 
been  cutting  up  ?  " 

"  She  says  that  you  children  are  to  go  to 
boarding-school,  and  that  Honor  and  I  are  to  go 
live  with  her,"  replied  Katherine. 

Peter  gave  a  long,  low  whistle  and  stared  at 
the  fire. 

"  Are  you  going  to  ? "  asked  he. 

"  Not  if  we  can  help  it,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Good  for  you !  Neither  am  I.  Go  to  board- 
ing-school! Live  with  Aunt  Sophia!  Whew!" 


THE   STARRS  HOLD  A   FAMILY  COUNCIL.  33 

And  the  five  sat  there  in  silence  for  a  few  mo- 
ments, while  the  wind  blew  and  the  rain  poured 
down  without,  and  their  Aunt  Sophia  was  being 
borne  rapidly  back  to  Boston  in  the  train,  satis- 
fied that  she  had  accomplished  her  object  and 
had  done  her  duty,  and  that  even  now  her  nieces 
had  begun  to  make  ready  for  their  flight  from 
the  old  home. 

The  Starrs  had  lived  at  Glen  Arden  all  their 
lives.  They  were  all  born  in  the  old  house,  as 
had  been  also  their  father  and  their  grandfather. 
So  had  their  Aunt  Sophia,  as  to  that  matter;  but 
apparently  her  early  marriage  had  counteracted  the 
effect  of  old  associations.  She  had  no  time  to 
give  to  sentiment,  and  she  considered  that  a  home 
on  Beacon  Street  would  amply  compensate  her 
brother's  children  for  whatever  they  should  be 
forced  to  forego. 

She  was  sorry  for  them,  it  is  true,  but  her  sym- 
pathy was  somewhat  diluted  by  the  reflection  that 
she  had  always  said  that  her  brother  and  her 
brother's  wife  were  extravagant.  The  state  of  the 
family  finances  at  present  only  went  to  prove  the 
truth  of.  this  statement,  and  she  was  more  than 
convinced  that  Katherine  had  inherited  the  expen- 


34  A   SUCCESSFUL   VENTURE. 

sive  tastes  of  her  parents.  Fifteen  dollars  for  a 
handglass !  Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward  bristled  with 
indignation  at  the  thought  of  it. 

It  was  three  months  now  since  Mr.  Peter  Starr 
had  died.  His  wife  had  been  dead  for  some  years, 
and  the  children  might  be  said  to  have  brought 
themselves  up.  There  had  been  no  one  to  go 
there  to  take  charge  when  their  mother  died,  and 
though  there  had  been  an  occasional  governess, 
she  had  been  granted  but  little  authority,  and 
affairs  went  more  smoothly  when  there  was  no  one. 

The  girls  adored  their  father,  and  his  slightest 
word  was  law  when  he  chose  to  speak  it ;  but  as 
a  rule  he  refrained  from  directing  his  family  in 
the  smaller  matters  of  life.  He  was  an  indolent, 
dreamy  man,  who  since  his  wife's  death  had  spent 
the  greater  part  of  his  time  among  his  books. 
Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward  had  frequently  remonstrated 
with  him  upon  the  laxity  of  his  management  of  his 
children,  but  he  had  acquired  the  habit  of  think- 
ing that  Sophia  was  unduly  particular,  and  there- 
fore he  paid  but  little  attention  to  her  criticisms. 
Honor  kept  house  very  well,  he  always  said,  and 
the  children  never  gave  him  any  trouble.  He 
liked  them  to  be  natural. 


THE  STARRS  HOLD  A   FAMILY  COUNCIL.  35 

It  was  in  August  that  Mr.  Starr  died,  so  sud- 
denly that  it  was  many  weeks  before  his  family 
could  realize  the  fact  that  the  gentle,  kindly  pres- 
ence was  no  longer  among  them.  They  missed 
their  father  sadly,  and  Honor  sometimes  felt  over- 
burdened with  a  sense  of  the  responsibility  which 
was  now  hers.  To  be  sure,  she  had  kept  house 
for  years,  and  had  practically  brought  up  the 
younger  children ;  but  there  had  always  been  her 
father  to  turn  to  in  matters  of  importance,  there 
had  always  been  his  smile  to  encourage  her,  his 
few  words  of  appreciation  to  cheer  her  when  the 
children  had  been  troublesome,  or  household  affairs 
had  gone  wrong. 

Mr.  Dickinson  Abbott,  an  old  friend  of  Mr.  Starr's, 
had,  according  to  his  will,  been  appointed  guardian 
of  the  family  and  trustee  of  the  estate.  There  had 
always  been  plenty  of  money,  and  Honor  had  sup- 
posed that  there  always  would  be.  She  could  not 
imagine  what  her  Aunt  Sophia  had  meant  by  her 
remarks  that  morning. 

Katherine  had  finished  school,  but  intended  to 
devote  herself  to  her  music  this  winter,  going 
to  Boston  several  times  a  week  for  the  purpose, 
and  practising  with  great  regularity  and  industry. 


36  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

Katherine,  though  inclined  to  be  flighty  and  un- 
manageable at  times,  was  wholly  devoted  to  music. 
Victoria,  Sophy,  and  Peter  went  to  private  schools 
in  Fordham,  upon  the  outskirts  of  which  suburban 
town  Glen  Arden  was  situated. 

Glen  Arden  itself  was  a  beautiful  old  place  on  the 
banks  of  the  Charles  River.  A  pine  grove  hid  the 
view  of  the  river  from  the  house,  but  the  gentle, 
winding  stream  was  there  within  a  stone's  throw  of 
the  barn,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  steep  bank  with 
which  the  grove  terminated.  A  small  branch  rail- 
road crossed  the  river  at  the  Starrs'  place,  and  a 
tiny  station  was  situated  near  the  entrance  to  their 
grounds.  The  main  station  was  half  a  mile  away 
in  "the  village,"  as  the  Starrs  continued  to  desig- 
nate it,  although  it  had  long  ago  been  incorporated 
into  the  city  of  Fordham. 

Shortly  after  twelve  o'clock  of  this  eventful 
Saturday  in  November  the  rain  abated  somewhat, 
and  at  three,  when  the  train  arrived  upon  which 
Mr.  Abbott  was  expected,  it  had  actually  ceased 
for  the  time  being  at  least. 

The  girls  were  in  the  parlor,  Katherine  at  the 
piano,  and  Honor  with  a  bit  of  work  in  her  hands. 
She  had  revived  somewhat,  and  sat  curled  up  in  a 


THE   STARRS  HOLD  A   FAMILY  COUNCIL.  37 

corner  of  the  divan  which  occupied  the  western 
window.  There  was  never  much  light  in  the 
parlor  of  Glen  Arden  even  on  a  clear  day,  for  the 
trees  grew  so  thick  near  the  house.  Mr.  Starr  and 
his  father  before  him  had  loved  each  individual 
tree,  and  many  of  them  had  been  planted  with  their 
own  hands,  usually  upon  some  occasion  for  family 
rejoicing.  The  love  of  their  trees  was  a  family 
heritage. 

Victoria  was  on  her  knees  before  the  hearth, 
coaxing  into  a  blaze  the  logs  which  had  been 
heaped  there.  With  each  puff  of  the  bellows  a 
small  flame  leaped  up,  lighting  her  face  and  danc- 
ing before  her  intently  gazing  brown  eyes.  Vic 
was  not  considered  to  be  as  pretty  as  Honor  or 
Katherine,  but  already  a  fair  amount  of  character 
was  depicted  in  her  face.  Her  features  were  too 
irregular  for  beauty,  but  her  hair  was  pretty. 
There  was  not  much  of  it,  for  it  was  so  curly 
that  it  had  never  grown  beyond  her  shoulders, 
but  its  color  of  reddish  gold  was  very  striking, 
and  in  the  firelight  this  afternoon  it  looked  like 
a  golden  halo  which  framed  her  flushed  face. 

No  one  knew  yet  in  just  which  direction  Vic- 
toria's character  would  develop,  but  her  family  had 


38  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

a  latent  conviction  that  she  would  "  be  something," 
for  in  many  ways  she  was  so  unlike  other  people. 

Peter  and  Sophy  had  gone  to  the  train  to  meet 
Mr.  Abbott,  who  was  a  prime  favorite  with  them 
all,  and  presently  they  were  seen  coming  along 
the  grassy  path,  which  led  under  the  trees  across 
the  lawn  directly  from  the  little  station,  and  was 
a  much  shorter  course  than  to  follow  the  road. 

"  Well,  here  you  all  are !  "  said  Mr.  Abbott,  when 
he  had  divested  himself  of  his  mackintosh  in  the 
hall  and  had  come  into  the  parlor.  "  Every  one 
of  you;  and  Vic  has  made  a  grand  fire  to  cheer 
the  wanderer  and  the  wayfarer  this  rainy  day. 
Nasty  weather,  this!  Honor,  how  did  you  get  such 
a  cold  ?  You  must  take  care  of  it,  child.  I  don't 
like  those  pale  cheeks." 

"  How  good  you  are  to  come  out  such  a  day, 
Mr.  Abbott !  "  said  Honor,  as  she  drew  forward  an 
arm-chair  for  her  guest.  "  Just  as  good  as  you 
can  be.  We  want  to  see  you  so  much,  and  were 
on  the  point  of  telegraphing  to  you  when  we 
heard  of  your  message  to  us." 

"  Ah,  that  is  good ! "  said  he,  leaning  forward 
and  warming  his  hands  at  the  blaze.  He  was 
a  tall,  broad-shouldered  man  of  about  sixty-five, 


THE  STARRS  HOLD  A   FAMILY  COUNCIL.  39 

with  gray  hair  and  beard,  and  kindly  eyes.  The 
Starrs  all  loved  him  dearly,  and  he  had  been  their 
father's  most  valued  friend. 

"  I  like  to  come  where  I  am  wanted,"  he  con- 
tinued, "  and  I  am  always  glad  to  come  here. 
Dear  me,  though,  I  can't  get  used  to  it  without 
your  father." 

"  Neither  can  we,"  said  Honor,  her  eyes  filling 
with  tears  as  she  spoke.  "  Everything  is  changed 
without  him,  and  Aunt  Sophia  has  been  here 
to-day  and  wants  to  make  more  changes." 

"Ah,  your  aunt  has  been  here,  has  she?"  ex- 
claimed Mr.  Abbott,  quickly.  "And  what  plan 
did  she  suggest  ?  " 

"  Why,  do  you  know  about  it,  and  is  it  really 
true,  then  ? "  asked  Honor,  wonderingly.  "  And 
have  you  come  to  tell  us  the  same  thing?" 

"  How  do  I  know,  my  dear,  until  I  hear  what  she 
has  told  you  ? "  said  he,  with  an  attempt  at  lightness. 

"  The  most  absurd  thing  you  ever  heard  of,"  said 
Katherine.  "  She  says  we  must  go  there  to  live. 
Just  fancy  us  living  with  Aunt  Sophia!" 

"  And  that  we  are  to  go  to  boarding-school," 
put  in  Sophy,  who  had  seated  herself  on  the  arm 
of  her  guardian's  chair. 


4O  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  And  that  we  must  rent  the  place,"  continued 
Honor.  "  Rent  this  place  where  no  one  has  ever 
lived  but  Starrs !  Just  imagine  what  father's  feel- 
ings would  have  been  if  it  had  ever  been  suggested 
to  him  that  strangers  should  have  Glen  Arden ! " 

"  Catch  me  going  to  Boston  to  live,"  remarked 
Peter.  "  I  could  stand  boarding-school  on  a  pinch, 
but  Boston,  never !  " 

Victoria  said  nothing,  but  she  watched  Mr. 
Abbott's  face.  She  noticed  that  it  had  become 
very  grave. 

"And  you  wouldn't  like  it?"  said  he. 

"Like  it!  Why,  Mr.  Abbott,  why  should  we 
do  it  ?  Of  course  we  don't  like  it.  The  very  idea 
is  absurd."  They  were  all  talking  together. 

"  Why  should  Aunt  Sophia  suggest  such  a  pre- 
posterous arrangement  ?  "  continued  Honor.  "  We 
are  very  much  alone,  it  is  true ;  but  we  can't  help 
that.  I  have  always  been  in  the  habit  of  keeping 
house;  father  really  had  very  little  to  do  with  it. 
Of  course  it  is  very  hard  to  be  without  him,  but  we 
must  make  up  our  minds  to  that,  and  get  along 
as  best  we  can.  We  can  do  that  better  here,  where 
every  corner  of  the  house  and  place  is  associated 
with  him,  and  which  he  loved,  than  we  could  if  we 


THE   STARRS  HOLD  A   FAMILY  COUNCIL.  41 

went  to  live  with  Aunt  Sophia.  Why,  Mr.  Abbott, 
it  would  simply  kill  us  all  to  live  with  Aunt 
Sophia." 

"  Indeed  it  would,"  added  the  others,  with  con- 
viction. 

"  For  all  that,"  said  their  guardian,  gravely, 
"your  Aunt  Sophia  is  very  good  to  offer  to  do 
all  this  for  you.  I  didn't  know  whether  she  would 
or  not.  But  I  have  known  her  for  forty  years  or 
more,  and  I  have  always  found  that  she  did  what 
she  considered  to  be  her  duty.  Trust  a  New 
England  woman  for  that." 

"  But  what  do  you  mean  ? "  asked  Honor,  in 
alarm.  "  Why  is  it  her  duty,  Mr.  Abbott  ?  Father 
intended  that  we  should  live  here.  He  left  it  so 
in  his  will,  didn't  he  ?  Why  should  Aunt  Sophia 
suggest  anything  different  ?  " 

"  My  dear,"  said  Mr.  Abbott,  rising  as  he  spoke, 
and  standing  with  his  back  to  the  fire,  "  I  may  as 
well  tell  you  plainly.  It  is  what  I  came  this  after- 
noon to  do.  There  is  very  little  money  for  you  to 
live  on.  Your  father's  affairs  were  —  well,  were 
somewhat  involved.  An  investment  which  he 
thought  very  highly  of,  and  in  which  he  put  about 
all  he  owned,  has  gone  to  pieces  since  his  death. 


42  A    SUCCESSFUL   VENTURE. 

I  am  glad  he  never  knew  it.  There  is  all  this  real 
estate,  to  be  sure;  but  that  means  nothing  in  the 
present  state  of  the  market.  You  have,  —  I  must 
speak  plainly,  my  dear  children,  —  you  have  prac- 
tically nothing  to  live  upon  at  present.  Your  aunt 
is  very  good  to  offer  you  a  home  and  your  educa- 
tion. I  went  to  see  her  a  week  ago,  to  tell  her 
the  state  of  affairs,  and  since  then  I  have  been 
thinking  over  how  it  was  best  to  tell  you,  and  what 
had  better  be  done.  I  could  not  put  it  off  any 
longer." 

"  Do  you  mean  that  we  are  really  poor  ? " 
asked  Honor,  in  a  quiet  voice,  when  he  had  fin- 
ished speaking. 

"  Very  poor,  indeed.    You  have  scarcely  anything." 

"  Exactly  what  do  you  mean  by  '  scarcely  any- 
thing'?" 

"  You  have  the  place,  which  is  an  expensive 
one  to  keep  up,  and  a  very  few  hundred  dollars 
a  year,  upon  which  to  live  and  be  educated  and 
clothed.  Your  aunt's  offer  is  a  relief  to  me.  I 
am  glad  she  made  it,  but,  as  I  say,  I  thought 
she  would.  Sophia  Ward  may  be  peculiar,  and 
perhaps  a  trifle  aggravating,  but  she  is  certainly 
conscientious." 


THE   STARRS  HOLD  A   FAMILY  COUNCIL.  43 

The  Starrs  gazed  at  one  another  blankly.  An 
unkind  fate  appeared  to  be  descending  upon 
them,  in  a  great  black  cloud.  They  did  not 
realize  yet  the  fact  that  they  were  poor.  This 
knowledge  was  entirely  swallowed  up  by  the  de- 
plorable prospect  of  carrying  out  the  views  of 
their  Aunt  Sophia,  by  going  to  live  with  her. 
They  had  counted  upon  their  guardian's  support 
in  declining  her  invitation,  and  now. to  their  sur- 
prise he  declared  that  they  were  fortunate  to  have 
received  it.  They  were  too  ignorant  of  poverty  to 
know  what  other  significance  his  words  might  have. 

It  was  Victoria  who  reverted  to  this  part  of 
the  subject. 

"  Do  you  really  mean,"  said  she,  "  that  we 
haven't  got  enough  money  to  live  on?  That  if 
we  stay  here,  we  —  it  really  seems  absurd  to  say 
it,  but  I  want  to  know  exactly,  Mr.  Abbott  —  we 
shan't  have  enough  to  eat,  perhaps  ? " 

"  I  really  mean  it,"  replied  her  guardian. 

He  did  not  tell  them  that  there  was  actually 
no  money  which  they  could  call  their  own.  The 
"few  hundreds"  of  which  he  had  vaguely  spoken, 
he  intended  to  give  them  from  his  own  income, 
and  he  was  far  from  being  a  rich  man. 


CHAPTER   III. 

A    DECLARATION    OF    INDEPENDENCE. 

IT  was  evening,  and  Mr.  Abbott  had  returned  to 
Boston.  He  had  declined  staying  to  dinner, 
but  had  promised  to  come  again  early  in  the  week. 
By  that  time  the  Starrs  would  have  more  fully 
realized  the  situation,  and  would  be  able  to  talk 
more  rationally,  he  thought.  He  must  give  them 
time  to  accustom  themselves  to  the  great  change 
in  their  prospects.  At  present  they  seemed  to  be 
stunned,  and  no  wonder. 

"  It  is  terrible,  terrible !  "  said  Mr.  Abbott  as  he 
left  Glen  Arden.  "  Poor  children !  I  am  sorry  for 
them.  I  am  only  thankful  that  my  old  friend  was 
spared  the  knowledge  of  it  all.  Peter  never  was 
a  business  man,  and  if  he  had  taken  my  advice,  his 
money  would  never  have  gone  into  such  a  worth- 
less concern  as  that  railroad  has  proved  to  be. 
Poor  children,  I  am  sorry  enough ! " 

Mr.  Abbott  had  no  children  of  his  own,  but  he 
had  a  father's  heart,  and  it  ached  as  he  thought 

44 


A  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.  45 

of  the  sad-faced  group  which  he  had  just  left. 
They  knew  so  little  of  life,  and  it  seemed  to  be 
beginning  badly  for  them. 

Dinner  was  eaten  almost  in  silence,  but  after- 
wards, when  the  family  had  returned  to  the  parlor 
and  the  lamps  were  lighted,  and  the  room  looked 
just  as  they  had  always  known  it  since  they  could 
remember,  —  except  that  the  dear  father  was  no 
longer  there,  —  Honor's  self-control,  which  she  had 
bravely  kept  until  now,  deserted  her  for  an  instant. 
She  covered  her  face  with  her  handkerchief  and 
gave  a  little  sob.  Then  she  quickly  dried  her 
eyes. 

"  I  will  not  give  way ! "  she  said.  "  If  I  once  do, 
it  will  be  the  end  of  everything;  and  we  must  keep 
calm  and  try  to  think  clearly.  I  see  no  way  out 
of  it,  girls.  It  really  seems  as  if  we  must  give  up, 
and  go  live  with  Aunt  Sophia." 

Katherine  started  from  her  chair  and  began  to 
walk  rapidly  up  and  down  the  room.  Katherine 
was  tall  and  very  slender,  and  her  eyes  and  hair 
were  the  darkest  of  the  family.  She  was  an  ex- 
citable person,  and  this  remark  of  Honor's,  although 
it  entirely  coincided  with  what  she  feared,  had  a 
most  exasperating  effect  upon  her. 


46  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"Never!  "she  said.  "Honor,  how  can  you  say 
such  a  thing?  Are  you  going  to  meekly  give  in 
and  do  just  what  Aunt  Sophia  says,  after  all  ?  I 
should  think  you  would  have  more  spirit.  I  — 
I  would  rather  do  anything  than  that.  Scrubbing 
floors  would  be  better  than  dusting  Aunt  Sophia's 
ugly  china,  and  writing  her  endless  notes  about 
stupid  meetings.  Really,  Honor,  I  am  surprised 
that  you  can  sit  there  and  calmly  say  you  are 
willing  to  do  it!" 

"I  didn't  say  that  I  was  willing,"  said  Honor; 
"  and,  Katherine,  you  know  I  am  not.  And,  as  for 
being  calm  —  but  what  is  the  use  of  discussing 
that?  We  have  got  to  live,  and  we  have  no 
money ;  therefore,  if  some  one  offers  us  homes  and 
educations,  I  suppose  there  is  nothing  for  us  to  do 
but  say,  'thank  you,'  and  meekly  take  them." 

"  You  may,  but  I  never  will." 

"What  will  you  do?" 

"  Give  music  lessons." 

"  But  where  will  you  live  ? " 

"  Board  somewhere  alone,  I  suppose.  Lots  of 
women  do  that  who  have  to  support  themselves." 

"  But  not  women  that  are  as  young  as  you  are, 
and  who  have  been  brought  up  as  you  have  been." 


A   DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.  47 

"  I  can't  help  my  bringing  up,  and  I  shall  rapidly 
grow  older,  and  I  will  not  go  to  Aunt  Sophia's." 

"I  have  an  idea,"  said  Victoria.  "I  have  been 
thinking  about  it  since  before  dinner,  and  what 
Katherine  says  about  supporting  herself  just  fits 
in  with  it." 

"  What  is  it  ? "  asked  Honor  and  Katherine  to- 
gether. They  had  a  great  respect  for  Victoria's 
"  ideas." 

"  Why  shouldn't  we  all  do  something  to  support 
ourselves  ?  Lots  of  girls  do." 

"  Of  course  they  do !  "  cried  Katherine.  "  Vic, 
you're  a  girl  after  my  own  heart.  Youre  not 
going  to  sit  quietly  down  on  Beacon  Street  and 
be  ordered  about  by  Aunt  Sophia!"  This  with  a 
glance  at  Honor,  who  was  too  much  interested  in 
Victoria's  proposition,  however,  to  notice  it. 

"  Do  you  really  think  we  could  ? "  she  asked. 
"  What  could  we  do  ?  Katherine  has  her  music, 
I  know,  but  there  is  no  particular  talent  that  I 
have,  and  you  haven't  finished  school,  and  there 
are  Peter  and  Sophy.  -They  couldn't  do  anything. 
And  I  suppose  we  should  have  to  leave  the  place 
just  the  same." 

"  That   is   just  what   I   am  coming  to,"    replied 


48  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

Victoria.  "It  popped  into  my  head  before  Mr. 
Abbott  went,  and  I  have  been  thinking  about  it 
ever  since,  and  Peter  could  help  a  lot  if  we  carry 
it  out,  and  Sophy  too.  Why  can't  we  stay  on  here, 
and  turn  the  place  to  some  account  ? " 

"  Child,  what  do  you  mean  ?  "  cried  Honor ;  and 
even  Peter,  who  had  been  sitting  moodily  by  a 
distant  table,  taking  no  apparent  interest  in  the 
conversation,  but  absorbed  in  his  own  gloomy 
reflections,  dropped  the  paper-cutter  which  he  had 
been  handling  and  drew  nearer. 

"  What  do  you  mean,  Vic  ? "  he  asked ;  "  and 
what  can  I  do  to  help  ?  It  has  been  bothering 
me  that  I  can't  do  anything  as  long  as  I  am  the 
only  boy  in  the  family." 

Victoria  looked  at  him  lovingly.  She  wished 
that  she  might  venture  to  give  him  a  hug  for  that 
speech,  but  she  knew  that  Peter  would  not  like  it, 
so  she  refrained. 

"  I  mean,"  said  she,  "  that  we  might  live  on 
here  and  make  the  place  pay.  We  could  sell  the 
farm  produce,  sell  the  milk  —  you  know  we  have 
all  those  cows.  Surely  we  can't  use  all  the  milk 
and  cream  they  must  give,  and  there  must  be 
horrible  waste.  Then  we  could  raise  other  things. 


A  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.  49 

I  have  a  thousand  ideas.  Or  hens !  We  might 
keep  hens  and  sell  the  eggs.  Or  violets !  Or 
mushrooms !  I  heard  of  some  one  not  long  ago 
who  made  a  fortune  and  went  abroad  on  mush- 
rooms and  violets." 

Victoria's  voice  rose  with  her  rapidly  increas- 
ing enthusiasm.  She  could  see  that  she  had  made 
a  point.  Her  sisters  were  distinctly  impressed. 

"  And  we  shouldn't  have  to  give  up  the  place, 
after  all !  "  cried  Honor.  "  Victoria,  you  are  brill- 
iant !  Come  here,  child,  and  let  me  kiss  you." 

"  Or  we  could  have  a  school,"  continued  Vic- 
toria. "  Katherine  could  teach  the  music,  and  I 
the  small  children,  while  you,  Honor,  would  be 
the  principal.  It  might  even  be  a  boarding- 
school.  We  have  lots  of  room.  Indeed,  girls, 
there  are  ever  so  many  things  we  can  do  if  we 
only  put  our  minds  to  it.  The  farming  project 
seems  really  the  best  plan,  though,  for  Peter  could 
be  of  such  use  there.  He  loves  out-of-door  things 
so  much." 

"But  about  the  children's  schooling?"  suggested 
Honor.  "  If  we  had  a  school  here,  we  could 
teach  Sophy." 

"  I    know,"    said    Victoria,    "  I    thought    of    that. 


50  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

We  have  got  to  talk  the  whole  thing  over  and 
consult  with  Mr.  Abbott.  It  requires  a  lot  of 
thought.  But  I  am  glad  you  see  some  good  in 
the  idea.  I  was  almost  afraid  to  suggest  it  for 
fear  you  would  frown  it  down." 

"  Frown  down  anything  that  would  save  us 
from  a  life  at  No.  —  Beacon  Street  ? "  cried  Kath- 
erine.  "  Never !  Victoria,  my  child,  you  have 
preserved  my  reason.  I  verily  believe  I  should 
have  become  quite  insane  if  we  had  been  made 
to  go  to  Aunt  Sophia's,  after  all.  I  must  give 
vent  to  my  feelings." 

And  she  seated  herself  at  the  piano  and  played 
so  madly  and  yet  so  brilliantly  that  the  others 
were  forced  to  listen  to  her,  partly  because  they 
wanted  to  and  partly  because  they  could  not  hear 
one  another's  voices  above  the  din  of  the  crash- 
ing chords.  When  she  had  finished,  she  twirled 
around  on  the  piano  stool. 

"  There !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  Now  I  feel  better 
and  can  discuss  it  calmly.  I  already  see  myself 
sailing  for  Germany  to  study  under  foreign  mas- 
ters, my  pockets  stuffed  with  the  proceeds  of 
music  lessons  and  violets.  How  shall  we  sell 
them  ?  Shall  we  send  Sophy  in  to  stand  at  the 


A   DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.  51 

corner  of  Tremont  Street  and  Temple  Place  with 
little  bunches  ?  " 

"  Kathie  !  "  cried  Sophy,  reproachfully.  "  Must 
I  really,  Honor  ?  " 

"  No,  of  course  not,"  said  Honor,  reassuringly. 
"  Katherine  is  only  teasing  you.  The  idea  of 
our  letting  our  baby  do  that ! "  While  Katherine 
laughed  immoderately  at  Sophy's  startled  face. 
"  Now  we  must  talk  it  over  calmly  and  get  our 
ideas  into  shape  before  we  see  Mr.  Abbott  again, 
so  that  we  can  convince  him  at  once,"  continued 
Honor.  "  Suppose  we  discuss  it  to-night,  and 
then  think  it  over  to  ourselves  to-morrow,  and 
to-morrow  night,  at  this  time,  we  will  each  say 
what  we  think  we  had  better  do.  Then  we  can 
see  which  will  be  the  best  plan.  Oh,  Vicky 
dear,  you  are  a  perfect  treasure  ! " 

"  My  sister  Vic  is  a  perfect  brick ! "  cried  Kath- 
erine, hugging  her  as  she  spoke. 

Peter  said  nothing,  but  walked  slowly  out  of 
the  room,  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets. 

"  Peter  has  gone  up  to  the  workshop  to  think 
about  it,"  remarked  Sophy,  sagely. 

"  Yes ;  Jie  reminds  me  of  father  in  that,"  said 
Honor.  "  He  always  went  there  after  he  had 


52  A  SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

had  a  disagreeable  business  letter,  or  something 
troublesome.  Dearest  father !  I  am  glad  he  never 
knew  that  we  were  going  to  be  poor,  he  would 
have  felt  so  badly.  But  do  you  know,  girls,  I 
really  don't  mind  it  a  bit,  now.  I  feel  as  if  it 
were  going  to  be  interesting.  Just  think  of  the 
satisfaction  it  will  be  to  support  ourselves ! " 

"  I  am  going  to  see  about  my  Symphony  con- 
cert tickets  right  away,"  said  Katherine.  "  I  didn't 
know  whether  I  had  better  go  this  winter  when 
I  heard  that  we  had  no  money,  but  now  that 
we  are  going  to  make  so  much  I  shall  be  able 
to,  and  I  really  ought  to  do  everything  to  im- 
prove my  music  if  I  am  going  to  give  lessons." 

"  Yes,"  said  Honor,  though  somewhat  doubt- 
fully, Katherine  thought.  "I  —  I  think,  though, 
that  we  shall  have  to  be  very  economical  even 
though  we  are  going  to  make  so  much.  I  won't 
order  the  jacket  at  Hollander's  I  was  thinking 
of.  I'll  try  at  some  cheaper  place.  If  you  think 
it  will  be  very  extravagant  to  have  one  made  to 
order,  I  will  try  to  find  one  ready  made.  What 
do  you  think  ?  " 

She  looked  at  Victoria  as  she  spoke.  Victoria 
hesitated. 


A   DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.  53 

"  I  hate  to  say  it,  Honor,"  she  said  at  last,  "  for 
you  are  so  generous  and  good,  but  it  really  seems 
as  if  we  ought  to  get  on  with  as  few  clothes  as 
possible  if  we  are  so  very  poor.  Do  you  —  don't 
you  think  —  at  least,  is  your  last  winter's  coat 
really  hopeless  ?  Wouldn't  it  do  this  year  ?  " 

"Why  of  course  it  would  do?  said  Honor.  "It 
isn't  much  worn,  and  it  is  plain  black,  but  it  is 
frightfully  old-fashioned.  It  has  immense  sleeves, 
and  they  have  gone  down  so  this  year;  but  I  could 
have  them  altered  at  a  cheap  tailor's.  You  are 
right,  Vic.  I  won't  get  a  new  one." 

"  And  there  are  other  things  we  might  be  eco- 
nomical in  besides  clothes,"  continued  Victoria, 
staring  pensively  at  the  fire.  "  The  table,  for 
instance." 

"  My  dear  child ! "  cried  Honor  and  Katherine 
with  one  voice.  "  Surely  you  don't  think  we 
ought  to  starve  ourselves  ?  " 

"  No,  of  course  not,  but  we  really  needn't  have 
quite  so  many  things.  Salad  every  day  at  din- 
ner, for  instance,  and  olives.  And  we  don't  need 
preserves  always  for  lunch,  nor  such  a  lot  of  cake 
made,  and  —  oh,  a  great  many  things.  When  I 
was  staying  at  the  Carsons'  last  year  I  noticed 


54  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

that  they  didn't  have  nearly  so  many  things  as 
we  do,  and  yet  there  was  always  enough,  and 
everything  was  very  good." 

"  I  hate  the  idea  of  a  skimpy  table,"  said 
Honor.  "You  know  father  always  liked  every- 
thing to  be  very  nice.  Oh  no,  my  dear!  Most 
of  your  ideas  are  good  ones,  but  I  really  don't 
think  we  ought  to  starve  ourselves." 

"Nor  I  either,"  said  Katherine.  "I  think 
Honor  is  right  there.  Nothing  is  more  horrible 
than  the  idea  of  not  having  enough  food  on  the 
table." 

"  But  I  don't  mean  that,"  persisted  Victoria. 
"  I  only  mean  that  we  don't  need  olives  and  salad 
and  preserves  to  keep  us  from  being  hungry." 

"  The  preserves  don't  cost  us  a  cent  but  the 
sugar,"  said  Honor.  "We  raise  the  currants  and 
the  pears  and  the  cherries  on  the  place,  and  even 
some  of  the  strawberries,  so  there  is  no  extrava- 
gance in  turning  them  into  preserves  and  eating 
them." 

"  That  suggests  another  idea !  "  exclaimed  Vic- 
toria. "  We  might  sell  preserves  at  the  Woman's 
Exchange  or  somewhere.  To  be  sure,  we  have 
always  paid  a  woman  to  do  ours,  but  we  might 


A   DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.  55 

learn  to  do  them  ourselves,  and  make  some  money 
that  way." 

The  girls  discussed  long  and  earnestly  the  new 
aspect  of  affairs,  and  their  many  plans  for  better- 
ing their  fortune,  and  Sophy  sat  up  unnoticed 
until  past  her  usual  bedtime,  so  absorbed  were 
they  all  in  the  unlooked-for  problem  which  had 
been  presented  to  them  that  afternoon. 

Peter  did  not  appear  again,  but  they  heard  him 
whistling  in  the  workshop  when  they  at  last  went 
upstairs  to  bed.  Victoria  went  to  .the  door  and 
found  him  idly  sharpening  some  tools,  apparently 
giving  little  thought  to  the  work.  She  wanted  him 
to  go  to  bed,  but  she  knew  that  if  she  told  him  so, 
he  would  probably  prolong  his  labors  until  far  into 
the  night. 

"  We  have  been  talking  it  all  over,  Peter,"  said 
she  gaily,  "  and  we  are  going  to  think  it  out  by 
ourselves  over  Sunday;  and  then  Monday  night 
we  are  going  to  tell  each  other  how  we  want  most 
to  set  about  it,  —  making  our  fortunes,  I  mean. 
I  am  going  to  bed,  for  I  can  think  better  in  the 
dark.  I  don't  suppose  I  shall  go  to  sleep  for  ages. 
You  needn't  hurry,  but  please  put  out  the  light 
in  the  back  hall  when  you  do  come." 


56  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

And  the  mere  assurance  that  he  need  not  hurry 
sent  Peter  to  his  room  within  five  minutes. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday.  When  the  Starr 
family  awoke,  the  clouds  were  still  thick,  and  the 
air  was  heavy  with  dampness ;  but  by  nine  o'clock 
the  sun  was  out,  and  at  service  time  the  day  was 
clear.  Peter  and  his  four  sisters  went  to  church, 
as  usual,  and  took  their  places  in  the  family  pew,  — 
Peter  at  the  end  where  his  father  had  always  sat, 
even  on  the  very  Sunday  before  he  died.  If  the 
minds  of  the  .little  group  in  black  were  occupied 
with  other  thoughts  than  those  suggested  by  the 
service,  they  gave  no  outward  sign  of  it.  In  the 
afternoon  they  all  went  to  Sunday  school  as  usual, 
—  Honor  and  Katherine  to  teach,  and  the  others  to 
be  taught;  and  after  it  was  over  Katherine  and 
Victoria  stayed  to  the  afternoon  service.  Honor's 
cold  forced  her  to  go  home,  and  Peter  and  Sophy 
accompanied  her. 

No  one  mentioned  the  subject  in  which  they 
were  all  so  vitally  interested,  until  the  next  evening, 
when  they  were  once  more  gathered  about  the 
parlor  fire. 

"  Now,"  said  Honor,  drawing  up  a  chair,  and  set- 
tling herself  as  if  for  the  evening,  "  the  time  has 


A    DECLARATION   OF  INDEPENDENCE.  57 

at  last  come!  I  have  scarcely  been  able  to  wait 
for  night,  for  every  one  of  you  have  looked  as 
if  you  were  bristling  with  ideas  all  day ;  but  I 
thought  I  had  better  not  begin  the  subject  by 
asking  for  anything.  Suppose  we  all  take  turns, 
beginning  with  the  youngest,  and  each  say  what 
we  think  will  be  the  quickest  and  the  surest  way 
of  making  our  fortunes." 

But  Sophy  felt  shy  at  being  called  upon,  and 
they  all  insisted  that  Honor  should  state  her  own 
views  first,  as  she  was  the  eldest  Her  idea  was 
to  open  a  boarding-school  during  the  winter,  and 
to  take  boarders  in  summer. 

"  When  the  place  looks  so  lovely,"  said  she,  "  and 
there  would  be  no  necessity  if  we  did  that  for  us 
to  alter  our  way  of  living,  as  regards  the  table. 
We  should  be  obliged  to  have  everything  very 
nice  if  people  were  boarding  here,  and  that  would 
be  such  a  comfort." 

Katherine  approved  of  a  school,  though  perhaps 
not  a  boarding-school,  and  she  thought  it  would 
be  well  for  them  to  have  a  little  time  to  themselves 
in  summer. 

"  We  shall  want  to  go  away  for  a  while  to  get 
rested,"  she  remarked ;  "  to  the  seashore  or  the 


58  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

mountains,  you  know,  so  we  had  better  not  have 
a  houseful  of  boarders.  The  school  would  be  bet- 
ter, and  I  can  teach  other  things  in  it  besides 
music." 

Victoria  inclined  towards  working  the  farm  in 
some  way,  in  which  Peter  agreed  with  her.  She 
pointed  out  that  boarders  in  summer  would  per- 
haps be  hard  to  procure,  and  also  that  it  would 
be  impossible  to  go  to  the  mountains  or  the  sea,  as 
Katherine  suggested,  and  leave  the  place  to  take 
care  of  itself,  even  if  there  were  no  boarders,  and 
even  if  they  had  made  enough  money  to  warrant 
such  an  expense.  On  the  other  hand,  the  working 
of  the  farm  presented  endless  possibilities.  There 
was  much  good  sense  in  what  she  said,  as  Honor 
and  Katherine  were  forced  to  admit.  They  deter- 
mined to  wait,  however,  before  actually  deciding 
upon  their  future  course,  until  they  should  see  Mr. 
Abbott ;  and  Honor  wrote  to  him  that  night,  beg- 
ging him  to  come  to  Glen  Arden  again  as  soon  as 
it  should  be  convenient,  as  they  wished  his  advice. 

"  We  have  some  new  ideas,"  she  wrote,  "  and  we 
cannot  rest  until  we  hear  you  say  they  are  good 
ones." 

Mr.  Abbott  replied   in  person   to   the  note;  for 


A   DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE  59 

he  was  sincerely  anxious  about  the  welfare  of  his 
wards,  and  was  also  curious  to  know  what  they 
had  thought  of  as  a  means  of  escape  from  the 
grasp  of  their  Aunt  Sophia.  He  came,  therefore, 
on  Tuesday  afternoon. 

At  first  he  was  sceptical.  The  mere  idea  that 
five  young  persons,  all  under  twenty-two,  and  four 
of  them  girls,  should  set  out  to  support  themselves, 
with  no  experience  to  call  upon,  and  in  absolute 
ignorance  of  the  magnitude  of  that  which  they 
were  about  to  undertake,  seemed  to  him  prepos- 
terous, and  he  did  not  hesitate  to  tell  them  so. 

But  in  spite  of  himself,  he  was  soon  impressed 
by  their  earnestness.  Their  enthusiasm  was  con- 
tagious, and  there  was  certainly  a  fair  amount  of 
common  sense  in  their  remarks.  Mr.  Abbott  al- 
lowed himself  to  be  persuaded  to  stay  to  dinner, 
and  before  the  evening  was  over,  he  was  discussing 
as  eagerly  as  any  one  of  them  the  possibilities  of 
selling  butter  and  of  teaching  children  their  alpha- 
bet; while  the  idea  of  raising  violets  appealed 
strongly  to  his  flower-loving  soul. 

He  promised,  when  he  bade  his  wards  good 
night,  to  call  upon  their  aunt  the  next  day,  and 
place  the  subject  before  her;  and  he  would  do  his 


60  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

best  to  win  her  approval,  difficult  as  he  knew  that 
would  be.  In  the  meantime,  they  might  be  sure 
of  his  consent  and  support.  He  only  wished  to 
impress  upon  them,  however,  that  they  should  de- 
cide upon  a  course  which  would  necessitate  as 
little  outlay  as  possible. 

"  Saving  money  counts  for  as  much  as  making 
it,  in  the  long  run,"  said  he.  "  Don't  forget  that. 
And  I  am  glad  that  you  live  in  a  place  which 
has  good  public  schools.  Peter's  education  must 
not  be  forgotten,  nor  should  Victoria's  and  Sophy's. 
I  shall  not  approve  at  all  of  any  scheme  which 
would  interfere  with  their  schooling.  Don't  forget 
that,  either." 


CHAPTER   IV. 

KATHERINE    AS    A    FINANCIER. 

NJEEDLESS  to  say,  Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward 
disapproved  absolutely  of  her  nieces'  projects. 
The  mere  fact  of  their  defiance  of  her  authority 
was  unheard  of,  and  that  they  should  dream  of 
such  impossible  plans  for  their  self-support  she 
considered  at  first  beneath  her  notice.  The  chil- 
dren could  not  be  in  earnest,  she  said,  and  she 
thought  it  was  scarcely  the  time  for  jesting. 

When  she  was  finally  made  to  understand  that 
the  children  were  very  much  in  earnest,  she  can- 
celled all  her  engagements  for  that  afternoon  and 
hurried  to  the  Boston  and  Albany  station.  She 
must  lose  no  time  in  informing  them  that  they 
should  never  have  her  consent,  and  that  they  must 
at  once  give  up  any  such  absurd  ideas  as  these 
undoubtedly  were. 

Long  were  the  arguments  and  futile  were  the 
discussions  which  ensued  upon  her  arrival.  She 
found  that  her  brother's  children  had  inherited 

61 


62  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

no  small  amount  of  the  Starr  determination,  not 
to  say  obstinacy,  and  when  they  parted  she  was 
forced  to  acknowledge  herself  vanquished,  for  the 
time  being  at  least.  Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward  com- 
forted herself  with  the  reflection,  which  she  did  not 
hesitate  to  put  into  words,  that  the  time  would 
come  when  they  would  grow  weary  of  their  efforts 
and  be  glad  to  yield  and  come  to  her  for  help. 

"And  my  home  is  still  open  to  you,"  she  said 
as  she  took  her  departure.  "  Though  you  defy 
my  authority  and  persist  in  your  headstrong  course, 
I  shall  never  forget  that  you  are  my  brother's 
children.  The  time  will  come  when  you  will 
remember  this.  Mark  my  words !  " 

"  Wouldn't  it  be  too  dreadful  if  we  did  have 
to  go  to  her  for  help,  after  all  ? "  said  Honor, 
as  the  train  moved  away.  The  three  older  girls 
had  accompanied  their  aunt  to  the  little  station. 
"  Wouldn't  she  simply  shriek  at  us,  '  I  told  you 
so!'" 

"  She  will  never  have  the  chance  if  I  can  prevent 
it,"  returned  Katherine.  "  Rather  than  go  to  Aunt 
Sophia  for  help  after  all  that  has  been  said  this 
afternoon  I  would  rather — I  would  rather  scrub 
floors." 


KATHERINE  AS  A   FINANCIER.  63 

Which  was  Katharine's  favorite  simile  for  the 
extreme  of  hard  work,  although  the  wildest  flights 
of  the  imagination  could  scarcely  picture  her  in 
such  an  employment. 

"  I  shall  never  give  Aunt  Sophia  any  such  sat- 
isfaction as  that,"  she  added,  with  decision. 

"  I  am  perfectly  astonished  that  she  gave  in 
at  last,"  remarked  Victoria,  as  the  three  walked 
arm  in  arm  across  the  lawn.  "  I  really  thought 
she  would  stick  it  out  to  the  very  end,  and  per- 
haps refuse  to  have  anything  more  to  do  with 
us." 

"  I  didn't,"  said  Katherine.  "  Do  you  know  I 
think  it  is  almost  a  relief  to  Aunt  Sophia  that 
she  isn't  obliged  to  have  us  there,  after  all.  We 
should  interfere  dreadfully  with  her  regular  ways, 
even  if  she  did  turn  us  to  account,  with  her 
writing  and  her  dusting,  and  I  also  think  she  is 
very  curious  to  see  what  we  do,  and  how  we 
come  out.  She  is  already  looking  forward,  I 
plainly  see,  to  the  time,  when  she  can  prove  that 
she  knows  more  than  anybody  else,  and  that  we 
are  all  dismal  failures.  For  that  reason,  girls,  if 
for  nothing  else,  we  must  prove  that  we  are  not. 
We  must  succeed !  " 


64  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  Do  you  think  we  were  at  all  disrespectful  to 
her?"  said  Honor. 

"  No,  not  a  bit.  We  had  to  be  emphatic.  It 
was  the  only  way  to  make  her  understand  that 
we  were  in  earnest." 

"  I  know,  but  she  is  father's  sister  and  our 
only  near  relative,  even  if  she  is  aggravating,  and 
I  think  she  is  fond  of  us  in  her  own  way.  It 
was  very  good  and  generous  of  her  to  offer  to 
do  so  much  for  us." 

"  It  is  certainly  in  '  her  own  way '  that  she 
loves  us,  if  she  loves  us  at  all,"  said  Katherine. 
"Honor,  it  must  be  a  terrible  bore  to  have  such 
a  conscience  as  you  are  burdened  with.  I'm 
glad  it's  yours,  and  not  mine,  and  I'm  glad,  too, 
that  we  came  out  victorious  in  the  scrimmage 
with  our  beloved  aunt,  fond  of  us  though  she 
may  be." 

By  the  end  of  the  week,  their  plans  were  made, 
and  they  were  ready  to  put  them  at  once  into  ac- 
tion. The  idea  of  a  boarding-school  was  abandoned. 
That  was  absolutely  impracticable,  as  they  soon 
saw  for  themselves.  They  had  no  experience  upon 
which  to  go  to  work,  and  no  influence  upon  which 
they  could  depend  to  bring  them  pupils. 


KATHERINE  AS  A   FINANCIER.  6$ 

Honor,  however,  opened  a  day  school  for  small 
children.  There  happened  to  be  none  already  in 
Fordham,  and  among  the  friends  of  the  Starrs 
there  were  a  number  who  were  glad,  not  only  to 
help  the  girls  in  their  efforts  for  self-support,  but 
also  to  have  a  class  formed  for  the  children  whom 
it  was  not  desirable,  because  of  their  extreme  youth, 
to  send  to  the  larger  schools. 

Katherine  had  already  secured  several  music 
scholars  and  hoped  for  more,  while  she  also  in- 
tended to  help  Honor  with  the  school,  in  which 
Sophy  was  to  be  a  pupil.  Victoria  and  Peter  left 
the  private  schools  which  they  had  attended  and 
were  transferred  to  public  ones,  although  Victoria 
secretly  determined  that  this  should  be  her  last 
winter  of  study.  She  felt  that  she  must  unite  with 
the  others  in  working  for  the  support  of  the  family. 
Had  not  she  been  the  one  who  had  first  suggested 
the  idea?  In  the  meantime  she  planted  her  violet 
bed  and  proceeded  to  investigate  the  cultivation  of 
mushrooms. 

The  house  servants  were  all  informed  that  they 
must  go,  and  a  new  "  maid  of  all  work "  was  en- 
gaged, who  was  expected  to  perform  wonders  in 
the  kitchen  and  elsewhere.  The  gardener  and  the 


66  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

coachman  were  also  dismissed,  and  the  horses  and 
cows  were  sold.  The  girls  had  concluded  that  it 
would  be  unwise  at  present  to  attempt  to  make 
butter,  for  with  their  many  other  duties  it  would 
be  impossible  to  attend  to  it.  A  man  who  lived 
near  could  be  called  upon  to  come  occasionally  if 
one  were  needed  upon  the  place,  and  when  spring 
approached  they  could  engage  some  one  regularly, 
if  they  decided  to  raise  vegetables  for  sale. 

At  present  their  chief  thought  was  the  school. 
A  room  on  the  second  floor  was  to  be  used  for 
the  purpose,  the  bedstead  and  bureau  removed, 
and  some  desks,  which  Katherine  went  to  Boston 
to  buy,  were  to  be  placed  there  in  readiness  for 
the  pupils.  There  had  been  some  discussion 
about  the  purchase  of  these  desks,  Victoria  sug- 
gesting that  tables  would  do  for  the  present,  until 
they  should  have  a  little  more  ready  money,  and 
should  also  be  able  to  see  whether  the  number  of 
scholars  would  warrant  such  an  outlay. 

But  Katherine  was  strongly  of  the  opinion  that 
desks  would  add  greatly  to  the  professional  appear- 
ance of  the  room,  and  would  have,  in  consequence, 
a  beneficial  effect  upon  the  children,  and  as  Honor 
agreed  with  her  in  this,  she  went  off  triumphantly 


KATHERINE  AS  A   FINANCIER.  67 

to  Boston  with  the  money  in  her  pocket  with 
which  she  was  to  pay  for  them.  Neither  Honor 
nor  Victoria  was  able  to  go  with  her,  but  she 
professed  herself  quite  equal  to  the  task  of  choos- 
ing the  necessary  articles  without  her  sisters'  help. 

When  she  returned  she  announced  to  them 
that  she  had  bought  not  only  six  small  desks 
with  chairs  to  match,  but  also  a  larger  desk  for 
Honor,  a  map  of  the  world  to  hang  upon  the 
wall,  and  a  blackboard. 

"  You  know  it  is  really  important  to  have  all 
these  things,"  said  she.  "A  schoolroom  without 
a  map  would  be  like  bread  without  butter,  and 
this  is  the  cheapest  and  the  most  complete  thing 
you  ever  saw.  The  United  States  on  one  side, 
and  the  whole  world  on  the  other,  and  only  a  dol- 
lar. And  you  needn't  shake  your  head  over  the 
desk  for  Honor,  Victoria!  Of  course  she  ought 
to  have  a  desk." 

"  I'm  afraid  our  bread  will  soon  be  without  but- 
ter if  you  go  on  in  this  way,"  remarked  Victoria. 
"  Honor  could  have  used  a  table  with  a  drawer." 

"  Oh,  that  wouldn't  do  at  all ! "  said  Katherine, 
impatiently.  "  You  have  such  scrimpy  ideas,  Vic ; 
I  don't  see  where  you  get  them.  And  besides,  I 


68  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

did  a  stroke  of  business.  They  allowed  me  a  dis- 
count of  ten  per  cent  at  the  furniture  store  be- 
cause I  was  a  professional,  so  it  really  paid  to  get 
all  those  things.  It  is  great  fun  to  be  a  profes- 
sional. I  get  music  cheaper  at  the  music  stores, 
just  because  I  give  lessons." 

"  But  did  you  have  enough  money  for  so  many 
things  ? "  asked  the  practical  younger  sister. 

"Oh,  I  haven't  paid  for  them  yet,"  rejoined 
Katherine,  easily.  "  They  asked  me  if  I  would 
have  them  charged,  and  I  said  yes.  I  really 
thought  it  would  be  better  to  have  a  bill  for 
them,  and  there  may  be  more  ready  money  when 
it  comes  in,  and  besides,  I  needed  that  money  for 
something  else  —  something  that  is  to  be  a  grand 
surprise  for  you  all  and  is  to  help  us  make  our 
fortunes.  It  is  coming  out  by  express  this  after- 
noon." 

"  Katherine,  what  have  you  been  getting  ? "  ex- 
claimed Honor  and  Victoria  together. 

"  Oh,  just  wait ! "  cried  Katherine,  gaily,  as  she 
left  them  and  went  to  her  room  to  take  off  her 
hat  and  coat.  "  I  tell  you,  it  is  to  be  a  grand  sur- 
prise. It  is  coming  with  the  desks  and  chairs." 

"  What  do  you  suppose  it  is  ? "  asked  Honor. 


KATHERINE  AS  A   FINANCIER.  69 

"  I  am  afraid  to  think,"  returned  Victoria,  "  and 
I  think  it  was  a  great  pity  she  had  those  things 
charged.  Perhaps  we  shan't  have  any  money  at 
all  when  the  bill  comes  in." 

"  Oh,  don't  be  afraid,  child !  Katherine  is  ex- 
travagant, I  must  confess,  but  we  have  six  pupils 
promised,  you  know,  for  the  school,  and  she  has 
eight  music  scholars.  We  shall  be  all  right,  I 
hope." 

But  in  spite  of  these  reassuring  words  Honor 
felt  as  uneasy  as  did  Victoria  about  Katherine's 
"  surprise." 

"  What  do  you  think  of  the  new  maid  ? "  asked 
Victoria,  presently.  The  sisters  were  in  Honor's 
room,  darning  the  family  stockings  by  the  waning 
light  of  the  short  November  day. 

"  I  don't  know  what  to  think,"  replied  Honor, 
running  her  long  needle  in  and  out  as  she  crossed 
and  re-crossed  a  large  hole.  "  I  suppose  Peter 
wears  out  his  stockings  so  quickly  because  he  is 
such  a  tramper,  but  this  one  is  discouraging.  Do 
you  think  it  is  worth  while  to  spend  our  pre- 
cious time  over  such  a  hole  as  this,  Vic  ? " 

"I  think  the  stocking  would  stand  a  little  more 
wear,"  said  Vic,  laying  down  her  own  work  and 


70  A   SUCCESSFUL     VENTURE. 

examining  critically  that  of  her  sister.  "  I  like  a 
good  big  hole  if  I  am  going  to  darn  at  all.  Run- 
ning over  thin  places  bores  me  to  death.  It  is 
just  like  life.  A  big  hole  is  like  a  big  calamity; 
you  can  rise  above  it.  But  the  little  botherations 
are  like  the  thin  places.  You  have  got  to  go 
over  them  and  patch  them  up,  or  else  they  will 
go  altogether,  and  yet  there  is  really  nothing  to 
show  for  it  in  the  end,  and  the  doing  it  tires 
you  out.  With  a  big  hole  or  a  big  trouble  you 
know  just  where  you  are  and  how  you  stand. 
But  tell  me  what  you  think  of  the  new  maid." 

"  I  am  afraid  she  is  like  the  thin  places  in  the 
stockings,"  said  Honor,  laughing  as  she  made  the 
comparison.  "  She  requires  a  great  deal  of  atten- 
tion, and  I  don't  know  where  she  is  going  to 
burst  out  next." 

"  What  is  her  name  ? " 

"  That  is  the  queerest  part  of  her.  She  told  me 
it  was  '  B.'  Lafferty." 

"  Bee  ?  "  repeated  Victoria.  "  What  a  curious 
name  !  Do  you  suppose  it  is  short  for  Beatrice  ?  " 

"Not  at  all.  It  is  the  letter  B,  and  it  really 
stands  for  Bridget,  but  she  told  me  she  never  liked 
the  name  of  Bridget  and  didn't  wish  to  be  called 


KATHERINE  AS  A   FINANCIER.  fl 

that.  I  told  her  I  thought  I  should,  upon  which 
she  said  she  should  take  the  next  train  back  to 
Boston  if  we  did.  Her  friends  called  her  '  B.,'  and 
we  must  call  her  '  B.,'  or  if  not  '  B.'  it  could  be 
'  Blanch.'  On  the  whole,  she  preferred  Blanch,  so  I 
suppose  it  has  got  to  be  that,  though  I  can't 
imagine  anything  more  inappropriate." 

"  You  may  be  thankful  she  didn't  request  us  to 
call  her  '  Miss  Lafferty,' "  laughed  Victoria.  "  I 
think  she  is  going  to  be  amusing." 

"  I  hope  so,"  said  Honor,  somewhat  grimly.  "  To 
me  at  present  it  seems  more  tragic  than  amusing. 
She  won't  have  late  dinner,  for  one  thing.  We 
have  got  to  dine  in  the  middle  of  the  day  after 
to-night.  It  really  seems  as  if  she  meant  to  rule  us, 
but  I  shan't  let  her." 

The  family  were  engaged  in  eating  the  last  din- 
ner which  they  were  to  be  allowed  to  enjoy  in  the 
evening  when  the  Fordham  and  Boston  express 
wagon  was  heard  coming  down  the  Glen  Arden 
avenue,  and  shortly  afterwards  the  door  which  led 
into  the  front  hall  from  the  kitchen  department 
was  flung  open  by  B.  Lafferty,  who  announced  as 
she  did  so  that  "  a  whole  lot  of  furniters  had  come, 
and  what  was  she  to  be  afther  doin'  wid  'em  ? " 


72  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  Bring  them  right  in  here,  please,"  said  Honor. 
"  Peter,  won't  you  go  and  help  ?  We  shall  have  to 
do  a  good  deal  ourselves,  I  suppose,  now  that  we 
have  only  one  girl,"  she  added,  as  Blanch's  heavy 
tread  echoed  in  the  distance,  and  Peter,  who  had 
heard  of  Katherine's  shopping  expedition  and  was 
possessed  of  a  lively  curiosity,  went  willingly 
enough  to  investigate  the  result. 

The  chairs,  desks,  blackboard,  and  map  had  all 
been  brought  in,  also  a  globe  and  a  package  con- 
taining chalk,  pencils,  copy-books,  blank-books, 
and  school  stationery  of  all  kinds,  which  Katherine 
had  forgotten  to  mention,  and  then  Peter  appeared, 
staggering  beneath  the  weight  of  a  square  box.  It 
seemed  to  be  heavy,  and  he  set  it  down  with  a  sigh 
of  relief. 

"  There  !  "  said  he.  "  I  suppose  that  is  your 
surprise,  Katherine.  It  weighs  a  ton,  whatever 
it  is." 

"  Yes,  that  is  it !  "  cried  Katherine.  "  Oh,  girls, 
I  wonder  what  you  will  say  when  you  see  it !  But 
look  at  the  desks  before  we  open  it.  Aren't  they 
too  sweet  for  anything?  And  so  cheap,  too.  I 
forgot  to  tell  you  I  got  a  globe.  You  know  a 
schoolroom  is  nothing  without  a  globe." 


KATHERINE  AS  A   FINANCIER.  73 

"  But  the  surprise,"  interposed  Sophy.  "  Do 
show  it  to  us  quick,  Kathie." 

"  I've  a  good  mind  to  make  you  all  guess,"  said 
Katherine,  mischievously.  She  glanced  from  one 
to  the  other  as  she  spoke.  It  almost  seemed  as  if 
she  were  afraid  to  let  them  see  it,  Victoria  thought, 
though  she  had  assumed  this  air  of  triumph. 

"  Oh  no,  we  can't  stop  to  guess,"  said  they,  and 
Peter  had  already  begun  to  remove  the  lid  of  the 
box. 

"  My  eye !  "  exclaimed  he.  "  Oh,  my  two  eyes, 
what  do  I  see?  Katherine's  been  and  gone  and 
done  it  this  time ! "  And  he  burst  into  shouts  of 
derisive  laughter. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  cried  the  others,  as  they  crowded 
about  and  pushed  the  desks  and  chairs  out  of  the 
way,  in  their  haste  to  see  the  contents  of  the 
mysterious  box. 

"  It  is  a  typewriter,"  announced  Katherine. 

"A  typewriter !  "  repeated  her  sisters.  "  What 
—  what  for  ?  Why  did  you  buy  a  typewriter  ?  " 

"Why,  you  stupid  children,  to  typewrite  with,  of 
course! " 

"  But  do  you  know  how? " 

"No;  certainly  not.     How  should  I?     But  I  am 


74  *   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

going  to  learn.  It  was  a  tremendous  bargain,  and 
I  have  been  thinking  of  them  for  some  time  with- 
out saying  anything  about  it.  You  know  the 
magazines  are  full  of  advertisements  of  them,  and 
they  have  made  me  simply  wild  to  have  one.  I 
thought  it  would  be  so  useful  for  us  to  have  one 
in  the  house,  and  we  can  make  a  lot  of  money 
with  it." 

"  How?  "  asked  Honor. 

Something  in  her  voice  made  Katherine  glance 
at  her  sister's  face;  but  Honor  was  standing  in  the 
shadow  cast  by  the  staircase,  which  went  up  from 
the  centre  of  the  hall. 

"  Doing  typewriting  for  people,  of  course.  You 
hear  all  the  time  of  girls  who  are  typewriters.  How 
dull  of  comprehension  you  are  to-night,  Honor!" 

"How  much  did  you  give  for  it?" 

"My  dear,  it  was  awfully  cheap!  The  man  as- 
sured me  it  was  a  wonderful  bargain!" 

"They  usually  do,"  remarked  Honor,  "but  you 
haven't  yet  named  the  price.  How  much  was  it, 
Katherine?" 

"It  is  really  a  hundred-dollar  machine,  but  they 
call  it  second-hand,  though  it  has  only  been  used 
a  little,  and  so  I  got  it  for  forty." 


KATHERINE  AS  A   FINANCIER.  75 

"Forty  dollars!"  cried  Victoria,  while  Honor's 
feelings  prevented  her  for  the  moment  from  find- 
ing words,  and  Peter  gave  utterance  to  a  prolonged 
whistle  of  astonishment.  "  You  don't  mean,  Kath- 
erine,  that  you  have  actually  spent  forty  dollars  on 
that?" 

"  I  do,"  said  Katherine,  with  an  assumption  of 
boldness  that  she  was  far  from  feeling.  "  Only 
forty  dollars.  I  assure  you  it  is  the  cheapest  thing 
I  ever  saw.  I  never  dreamed  of  being  able  to  get 
a  decent  one  for  less  than  fifty  at  the  lowest  — 
and  when  we  are  making  money  with  it,  you  will 
thank  me." 

"  But  how  are  we  to  make  money  with  it  ? "  asked 
Victoria,  while  Peter  laughed  with  malicious  glee. 
He  had  been  so  often  remonstrated  with  himself 
for  various  misdemeanors  that  he  was  glad  to  see 
his  chief  critic  undergoing  the  same  unpleasant 
experience,,  "Do  you  know  how  to  use  it?" 

"  No,  not  yet;  but  that  is  easily  learned.  The 
man  offered  to  give  me  a  lesson,  but  I  was  in  a 
hurry,  and  so  he  said  I  could  come  in  any  time. 
He  showed  me  some  books  on  the  subject,  which 
I  bought,  and  I  can  easily  puzzle  it  out  myself,  I 
think.  It  will  be  something  to  do  in  the  evening." 


76  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  Have  you  paid  for  it,  or  did  you  have  it 
charged,  too  ? " 

It  was  Honor  who  asked  the  question.  She  had 
not  spoken  for  some  time,  and  her  voice  had  the 
same  note  which  Katherine,  who  was  susceptible 
to  voices,  had  remarked  upon  before. 

"  I  paid  for  it,"  she  replied.  "  That  is  what  I 
wanted  the  ready  money  for.  I  saw  it  in  the  win- 
dow of  a  typewriter  place  as  I  was  on  my  way  to 
the  furniture  store.  I  knew  I  should  have  to  pay 
'cash  down'  for  it,  as  they  didn't  know  me  there, 
while  they  did  at  the  furniture  place.  I  hope  you 
think  I  did  right,  girls.  I  hope  you  agree  with  me." 

"  I  think,"  said  Honor,  turning  slowly  and  look- 
ing at  her  sister,  —  "I  think  you  are  the  most  fool- 
ish and  the  most  extravagant  person  I  ever  saw  or 
heard  of.  The  idea  of  your  spending  forty  dollars 
on  a  typewriter,  when  we  are  so  poor  we  can 
scarcely  buy  our  food,  and  it  was  just  as  much  as 
we  could  do  to  scrape  the  forty  dollars  together 
for  you  to  take  to  Boston  to  buy  the  schoolroom 
furniture  with.  Oh,  that  we  had  never  let  you 
go!  Can  the  thing  be  taken  back?" 

"  No,"  said  Katherine,  shortly. 

"Why  not?" 


KATHERINE  AS  A   FINANCIER.  77 

"  Why  of  course  it  can't,  Honor,  unless  in  ex- 
change for  another  typewriter !  Of  course  the  man 
isn't  going  to  give  me  back  the  money.  How 
foolish  you  are  !  " 

"  Foolishness  must  run  in  the  family,"  said 
Honor.  "  I  think  Aunt  Sophia  was  quite  right 
when  she  said  we  were  nothing  but  children  and 
not  fit  to  take  care  of  ourselves.  If  you  go  on  in 
this  way,  we  shall  soon  have  to  take  refuge  in 
Beacon  Street,  after  all.  I  think  you  might  at  least 
have  consulted  us  before  you  bought  it.  I  suppose 
you  were  afraid  to.  That  is  the  reason  you  were 
so  anxious  to  go  yourself  to  buy  the  desks.  You 
had  made  up  your  mind  before  you  went,  to  get 
this  thing." 

"  I  hadn't  at  all,  Honor,"  cried  Katherine,  stung 
by  this  accusation.  "  I  hadn't  the  least  idea  of 
doing  it  until  I  saw  them  in  the  window.  If  I  had 
happened  to  go  through  any  other  street,  I  should 
never  have  dreamed  of  getting  it.  It  was  evidently 
intended  that  we  should  own  a  typewriter,  for  I  was 
led  right  up  to  the  window." 

"  An  easy  sort  of  philosophy,"  remarked  Honor. 

"  Oh  well,"  interposed  Victoria,  "  it  is  done,  so 
there  is  no  use  in  lamenting.  We  may  as  well 


78  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

make  the  best  of  it,  though  the  next  time  you  go 
to  Boston,  Katherine,  I  think  Honor  and  I  had 
better  be  on  each  side  of  you  to  keep  you  from 
being  '  led  up '  to  windows.  If  you  had  been  '  led ' 
to  Toppan's  window,  would  you  have  bought  all 
that  you  saw  there  ?  Or  to  Shreve's,  or  Bigelow's  ? 
Oh,  Katherine ! " 

And  then  Victoria,  who  had  been  undecided  for 
some  time  as  to  whether  she  should  laugh  or  cry, 
began  to  laugh. 

"  I  think  it  is  too  funny ! "  she  exclaimed.  "  I 
feel  as  if  we  had  a  white  elephant  in  the  house.  In 
addition  to  everything  else  that  we  have  to  do  we 
have  all  got  to  learn  typewriting,  so  as  to  make  it 
pay  !  Oh,  Katherine,  Katherine ! " 

Honor  hesitated  a  moment.  The  situation  was 
amusing,  and  Victoria's  mirth  was  contagious,  but 
she  felt  very  angry.  Then  seeing  that  Katherine 
was  looking  troubled,  she  decided  that  she  too  had 
better  try  to  laugh  it  off.  After  all,  it  was  very 
funny.  And  presently  they  were  all  laughing  so 
uproariously,  that  B.  Lafferty  again  opened  the 
door  and  peeped  in  at  them,  wondering  what  amus- 
ing article  had  come  by  express. 

Suddenly,  however,  Katherine  became  sober. 


THE  GIRLS  AND  PETER  COULD  SEE  KATHERINE,  WHO  SAT  IN  THE  HALL  BELOW. 


KATHERINE  AS  A   FINANCIER.  79 

"  You  will  see,"  she  said,  "  that  after  all  I  was 
wise  to  get  it.  When  the  money  begins  to  pour 
in  from  it,  you  will  see  what  a  brilliant  idea  it 
was." 

"  I  can't  imagine  how  it  is  going  to  pour  in,  un- 
less you  are  going  to  manufacture  bank  notes  with 
it,"  remarked  Honor;  "but  we  will  see." 

They  went  back  to  their  forgotten  dinner,  and 
after  it  was  finished,  they  proceeded  to  arrange  the 
schoolroom.  It  was  again  Saturday,  and  school 
was  to  open  the  following  Monday. 

Katherine  slipped  away  before  long,  her  absence 
being  at  first  unnoticed  by  the  others.  Presently 
Peter  also  disappeared  from  the  room,  but  he  soon 
returned. 

"  If  you  want  to  see  something  rich,"  said  he, 
"come  look  over  the  banisters." 

As  has  been  said,  the  stairway  ascended  from 
the  centre  of  the  large  square  hall.  It  was  very 
broad,  and  a  gallery  ran  around  the  second  story, 
upon  which  opened  the  doors  of  the  bedrooms. 
By  leaning  over  the  railing  which  guarded  this 
gallery,  the  girls  and  Peter  could  see  Katherine, 
who  sat  in  the  hall  below.  She  was  at  work  upon 
the  typewriter,  the  "  clickety-click "  of  the  keys 


80  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

coming  at  long  intervals,  while  she  studied  the 
book  of  instructions. 

"  The  lightning  writer! "  whispered  Peter.  " Don't 
you  wish  you  could  write  with  a  pen  as  fast  as 
that?" 

"  Hush!  "  said  Victoria;  "don't  let  her  hear  you. 
But,  oh,  Honor,  we  shall  have  to  work  extra  hard 
to  make  up  for  Katherine's  extravagance !  What 
shall  we  do  with  her  ? " 


CHAPTER   V. 

PETER    SEEKS    INFORMATION. 

"DETER  is  in  one  of  his  moods.  He  won't 
come." 

So  announced  Sophy,  returning  from  the  barn 
for  the  third  time  one  day  towards  the  end  of 
the  following  week. 

"  But  we  want  him,  Sophy.  Did  you  tell  him 
so  ?  "  asked  Honor. 

"  That  is  just  the  reason  he  won't  come.  When 
I  said,  '  They  want  you,'  he  said,  '  Let  'em  want. 
I've  got  something  else  to  do  than  be  tied  to 
Honor's  apron  strings.'  What  did  he  mean, 
Honor?  You  hardly  ever  wear  an  apron,  and  I 
never  saw  you  tie  Peter." 

Katherine,  who  was  also  present,  laughed,  as 
she  invariably  did  when  Sophy  made  a  remark  of 
this  kind. 

"  You  are  the  most  literal  young  one  I  ever 
saw,"  said  she.  "  Did  you  really  suppose,  now, 
that  —  " 

G  8l 


82  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  Never  mind  ! "  interposed  Honor,  who  saw  that 
Sophy,  always  easily  moved  to  tears  by  Katherine's 
criticisms,  looked  ready  to  cry.  "  He  means  by 
that  that  he  doesn't  want  to  do  things  for  us. 
Very  disobliging  of  him,  I  think.  What  is  he 
doing?" 

"  Sitting  on  the  fence  just  outside  of  the  barn." 

"  Dear  me,  I  wish  he  would  come !  Well,  Kath- 
erine,  we  shall  have  to  do  it  ourselves.  A  boy 
can  be  so  useful,  and  it  does  seem  provoking  to 
have  one  right  in  the  family  and  not  be  able  to 
turn  him  to  account.  I  will  hold  the  step-ladder 
while  you  go  up.  Isn't  it  horrid  to  have  to  do 
all  this  ourselves  ?  I  do  miss  the  servants  dread- 
fully." 

The  girls  were  hanging  the  parlor  curtains  for 
the  first  time  in  their  lives. 

"They  are  going  to  look  horribly,  too,"  said 
Katherine.  "  I  really  think  it  would  pay,  Honor, 
to  have  a  man  come  up  from  Fordham  and  do 
it.  It  wouldn't  cost  much." 

"  It  would  cost  more  than  we  have  got  at  pres- 
ent," replied  Honor.  "  No,"  she  added  a  little 
drearily  after  a  moment's  silence,  "we've  got  to 
learn  to  do  these  things  ourselves.  Other  people 


PETER   SEEKS  INFORMATION.  83 

do,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  we  shouldn't.  Be 
careful,  Katherine.  You're  putting  that  ever  so 
much  higher  on  the  right  than  you  did  on  the 
left." 

In  the  meantime  Sophy  returned  once  more  to 
the  barn.  She  found  that  Peter  had  not  moved 
from  his  position  upon  the  fence,  and  as  far  as  she 
could  judge  he  was  still  in  "  one  of  his  moods." 
When  he  saw  Sophy  approaching  for  the  fourth 
time,  he  fixed  his  gaze  yet  more  intently  upon 
the  river,  which  gleamed  beyond  the  tall  pine 
trees  in  the  grove. 

Sophy  was  a  small  and  slenderly  built  child  of 
eight.  The  fact  that  she  was  so  much  younger 
than  her  sisters  had  perhaps  caused  her  to  be 
considered  the  baby  of  the  family  longer  than 
would  otherwise  have  been  the  case.  She  was 
not  a  pretty  child,  for  her  eyes  were  too  large 
and  staring  for  the  small  thin  face,  and  the  tem- 
porary absence  of  two  of  her  front  teeth  gave 
her  a  grotesque  expression.  Her  hair,  which  was 
straight,  had  been  cut  short  for  the  sake  of  con- 
venience, and  her  cheeks  were  pale  for  those  of 
a  country  child. 

Sophy  adored  her  only  brother  with  all  the  ardor 


84  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

of  her  childish  heart.  She  considered  him  the 
tallest,  the  strongest,  and  the  handsomest  boy  in 
all  the  town  of  Fordham,  or  Boston  either,  for  that 
matter,  and  she  was  his  willing  slave  at  all  times 
—  a  state  of  affairs  which  Peter  was  not  slow  to 
recognize  and  of  which  he  availed  himself  on  every 
possible  occasion. 

When  Peter  was  "  in  one  of  his  moods  "  he  was 
to  Sophy  more  fascinating  than  ever.  She  hung 
near  him,  wondering  what  was  the  matter,  what 
troublesome  thoughts  were  thronging  his  brain, 
and  whether  it  would  be  possible  to  offer  him  any 
help.  She  longed  to  comfort  him  on  these  occa- 
sions, but  never  knew  how  to  do  it. 

This  afternoon  she  seated  herself  upon  a  con- 
venient rock  and  leaned  her  chin  upon  her  hand, 
her  great  brown  eyes  fastened  upon  her  brother, 
who  was  perched  upon  the  fence  rail.  Peter  at 
first  paid  no  attention  to  her  presence.  Then 
he  stirred  uneasily.  He  turned  and  looked  at 
her,  and  then  looked  quickly  away  again.  The 
stare  of  those  big  brown  eyes  was  so  unflinch- 
ing. 

"  I  wish  you  would  go  away,"  said  he  at  last. 

"Why?"  asked  Sophy. 


PETER   SEEKS  INFORMATION.  85 

"  Because  I'm  thinking,  and  —  and  you're  such 
a  stare-cat." 

"  I  won't  any  longer,"  returned  the  obliging 
Sophy,  and  fixed  her  eyes  at  once  upon  the 
ground,  only  now  and  then  raising  them  for  a 
furtive  glance  at  the  motionless  figure  upon  the 
fence.  The  mood  was  lasting  a  long  time,  she 
thought. 

It  was  a  mild  day  in  November,  and  the  purple 
haze  in  the  atmosphere  proved  that  it  was  Indian 
summer.  There  was  a  delicious  smell  of  autumn 
in  the  air,  and  the  smoke  of  burning  brush  was 
borne  to  them  from  the  distance.  One  could  hear 
sounds  that  seemed  to  come  from  far  away,  and 
in  the  pasture  which  lay  to  the  right  of  the  pine 
grove,  a  vast  number  of  crows  had  alighted.  Pres- 
ently, having  finished  their  conference,  they  rose 
with  one  accord  and  soared  far  above  the  tops  of 
the  tallest  pine  trees,  cawing  to  one  another  as 
they  went.  Peter  glanced  up  at  them. 

"  I  wish  I  were  a  crow,"  said  he. 

Sophy  gave  a  little  sigh  of  relief.  He  had 
spoken ;  he  was  coming  out  of  his  mood. 

"  Why  ?  "  she  asked,  with  alacrity. 

"  Oh,     because  — "       And     then     he    stopped. 


86  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

Sophy  sighed  again,  this  time  with  disappoint- 
ment. He  was  not  going  to  tell  her!  Presently, 
he  again  broke  the  silence. 

"  I  wish  I  were  anything,"  said  he ;  "  anything 
but  what  I  am." 

"  Do  you  wish  you  were  a  girl  ? "  asked  his 
little  sister. 

"  No ! "  exclaimed  Peter ;  "  of  course  not  a 
girl!  But  anything  else.  A  bird,  a  beetle,  a 
squirrel.  Something  alive." 

This  was  difficult  philosophy  for  Sophy  to 
comprehend.  Would  the  life  of  a  beetle,  or 
even  of  a  bird,  be  preferable  to  that  of  a  girl? 
And  was  not  a  girl  "  alive  "  ?  She  was  about  to 
inquire  further,  when  her  brother  spoke  again. 

"I'm  tired  of  it,"  said  he.  "Just  tired  of  it! 
I'm  not  going  to  stand  it  any  longer.  I'm  going 
to  run  away  to  sea.  But  if  I  disappear,  Sophy, 
don't  you  tell  them  where  I've  gone.  Don't  tell 
the  girls  that  I  ever  said  anything  about  running 
away  to  sea ;  now  mind ! " 

"  No,"  said  Sophy,  "  I  won't,  but  I  hope  you 
won't  decide  to  go,  Peter.  It  wouldn't  be  a  bit 
nice  without  you.  Why  do  you  want  to  go  ? " 

"  I'll    tell    you,"     said     Peter,    leaping    to    the 


PETER   SEEKS  INFORMATION.  S/ 

ground,  and  seating  himself  upon  a  rock.  The 
fence  rail  had  ceased  to  be  comfortable. 

"  There  is  nothing  for  me  to  do.  We  are  all 
poor,  and  the  girls  have  to  work,  and  I  can't  do 
a  thing.  If  I  were  as  old  as  Honor,  I  could  go 
into  business  right  away,  and  make  a  fortune, 
and  support  you  all.  I'm  the  only  boy  in  the 
family,  and  I  ought  to  be  the  one  to  do  it.  I 
don't  see  why  I  wasn't  the  oldest  instead  of  hav- 
ing three  girls  older  than  me  to  order  me  around. 
It  just  makes  me  mad.  Why,  if  I  had  only  been 
the  oldest,  I'd  be  finishing  college  now,  and  going 
into  a  law  office,  or  I'd  be  a  doctor  and  have  lots 
of  patients,  or  I'd  go  into  business;  stocks,  or  a 
bank,  or  something  or  other.  Instead  of  that  I've 
got  to  knock  round  here  and  fuss  over  little  things 
the  girls  want  me  to  do,  and  go  to  that  hateful  Has- 
tings School  down  at  Fordham.  But  what's  the  use 
of  talking  to  you  ?  You  don't  understand.  You're 
nothing  but  a  girl,  and  a  baby  one  at  that." 

Sophy's  great  brown  eyes  filled  with  tears. 

"  I  know  I'm  a  girl,"  she  faltered.  "  I  wish  I 
wasn't,  Peter.  Indeed  I  do!  I  wish  you'd  please 
excuse  me  for  being  one,  for  I  can't  really  help 
it,  but  —  but  —  I  don't  think  I'm  such  a  baby." 


88  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  I'd  like  to  know  what  you  are,  then,"  said 
her  brother,  crossly.  "  You're  crying  now.  That 
proves  that  you're  a  baby.  Do  you  suppose  a 
boy  would  cry  as  easily  as  you  do,  or  any  one 
who  wasn't  a  baby  ?  " 

"  What  is  the  matter  ? "  cried  a  gay  voice,  as 
the  rustle  of  dead  leaves  on  the  pasture  path  was 
heard,  and  Victoria  came  into  sight.  "  I  heard 
you  ever  so  far  off,  and  it  sounded  exactly  as  if 
you  were  scolding,  Peter.  I  got  off  the  train  at 
Waterview  and  walked  up,  as  I  missed  the  one 
that  connected.  I've  been  thinking  over  some- 
thing, and  I  want  your  advice,  Peter." 

She  saw  at  a  glance  that  Sophy  had  been 
made  unhappy,  but  she  thought  it  wiser  to  pass 
it  over  unnoticed  for  the  present. 

"What  is  it?"  asked  her  brother,  interested  in 
spite  of  himself.  Then  he  added  hastily:  "But 
you're  only  making  that  up  to  change  the  sub- 
ject. You  don't  really  want  my  advice.  You 
think  I'm  scolding  Sophy,  and  so  I  am.  Why, 
she  cries  if  you  say  — " 

"  I  do  want  your  advice,"  interrupted  Victoria; 
"and  if  you  can't  give  it  to  me,  I  shall  have  to 
ask  some  other  boy  or  man.  It  is  about  mush- 


PETER   SEEKS  INFORMATION.  89 

rooms.  Do  you  know  anything  at  all  about  them, 
and  do  you  think  it  would  pay  to  raise  them  ?  I 
have  been  reading  up  about  them  to-day  in  the 
Encyclopaedia  at  school.  That  was  the  reason  I 
missed  the  other  train.  It  seems  as  if  we  could 
make  some  money  out  of  them  if  we  only  tried. 
It  says  in  the  Encyclopaedia  that  the  cultivated 
ones  don't  taste  as  good  as  the  wild  ones,  but 
there  must  be  a  demand  for  them,  for  people  use 
them  when  the  others  are  out  of  season.  I  was 
wondering  whether  you  would  want  to  undertake 
it." 

"  Do  you  mean  me  alone  ? "  asked  Peter. 

"  Yes.  You  see  I  have  the  violets  to  attend  to, 
and  lots  of  things  in  the  house.  We  have  so 
much  dusting  and  all  that  sort  of  thing  to  do, 
now  that  we  have  only  one  maid,  and  with  all  I 
have  to  study,  I  really  don't  think  I  can  under- 
take anything  more.  Couldn't  you  read  up  about 
them,  and  find  out  all  you  can  ?  You  might  make 
a  good  deal  that  way." 

A  gleam  of  something  like  interest  had  come 
into  Peter's  hitherto  depressed-looking  face.  It 
quickly  faded,  however. 

"  It's  such  a  little  thing,"  said  he. 


90  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  Little  ?     How  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Why,  it  doesn't  really  amount  to  anything. 
What  is  raising  mushrooms?  Anybody  could  do 
that.  I  want  to  do  something  big.  If  I  were 
only  a  man,  now,  I  could  support  you  all." 

"  Yes,  I  know  you  could,"  rejoined  Victoria, 
quickly,  "  and  it  would  be  too  lovely  for  anything; 
but  you  will  be  a  man  some  day,  Peter,  and  then 
you  can  do  it,  and  in  the  meantime  it  seems  as  if 
the  little  things  would  count.  And  mushrooms 
are  not  so  little,  either.  I  mean  the  raising  of 
them.  You  might  be  able  to  make  a  good  deal 
that  way,  and  in  other  gardening." 

"  They'd  call  me  a  mushroom,  I  suppose,"  said 
Peter,  gloomily,  after  he  had  reviewed  the  situation 
for  a  few  moments  in  silence. 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  A  mushroom,  or  perhaps  a  toadstool.  More 
likely  a  toadstool." 

"  Peter  !     Who  would  ?  " 

"  Those  Hastings  school-boys." 

"Would  they?     Why?" 

"  Because  they  are  hateful,"  said  Peter,  ris- 
ing and  walking  about  with  his  hands  in  his 
pockets.  "  The  class  I  am  in  is  nothing  but  a 


PETER  SEEKS  INFORMATION.  91 

set  of  ruffians.  I'd  like  to  fight  'em,  every  one 
of  'em,  and  I  will  some  day.  They  call  me  the 
'Glen  Arden  dude'  now.  You  see  I'm  the  only 
boy  there  who  has  been  to  a  private  school.  I 
wish  father  had  never  sent  me  to  that  school  in 
Boston.  I  wish  —  " 

"  Never  mind ! "  said  Victoria,  quickly.  "  Father 
always  did  what  was  quite  right.  What  else  do 
they  say  ? " 

"  They  say  I'm  tied  to  my  sisters'  apron  strings, 
just  because  they  saw  me  with  Honor  and  Kath- 
erine  yesterday  when  I  was  carrying  the  bundles. 
I'll  never  go  to  Fordham  with  any  of  you  girls 
again,  and  I'm  not  going  to  carry  your  bundles 
if  I  do  go." 

Quickly  a  look  of  scorn  gathered  in  Victoria's 
expressive  face.  Her  brown  eyes  fairly  gleamed 
with  it  as  they  regarded  her  brother. 

"  What  a  poor-spirited  boy  you  must  be,  Peter ! " 
said  she. 

"  Poor-spirited  !  "  exclaimed  Peter.  "  Why,  I'm 
willing  to  fight  any  boy  or  any  two  boys  in  that 
school,  and  I  will  yet.  I'd  like  to  know  what 
you  mean  by  that,  Vic ! " 

"  Oh,    I    don't   mean    that    you    are    not    brave 


92  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

enough  if  there  is  any  fighting  to  be  done,"  said 
she.  "  I'd  trust  you  quickly  enough  for  that,  but 
I  think  you  are  very  poor-spirited  to  be  afraid 
to  carry  our  bundles  or  be  seen  with  any  of  us, 
just  because  those  common  boys  that  go  to  the 
Hastings  School  in  Fordham  chose  to  laugh  at 
you  for  doing  it.  If  you  go  on  in  this  way,  you 
won't  be  the  kind  of  man  father  was,  or  that 
Mr.  Abbott  is.  Mr.  Abbott  is  only  too  glad  to 
do  things  for  women,  and  father  was  just  like  him 
in  that.  And  if  you  are  not  willing  to  do  these 
little  things  for  us  now,  I  don't  believe  you  will 
take  care  of  us  when  you  grow  up,  so  we  may  as 
well  get  accustomed  to  taking  care  of  ourselves." 

Peter's  face  flushed.  He  recognized  the  truth 
of  Victoria's  remarks,  although  he  had  no  inten- 
tion of  acknowledging  it. 

"  See  here,"  said  he,  "  I  wish  you'd  stop  !  There 
is  no  one  else  in  the  world  that  I'd  let  say  those 
things  to  me.  If  you  were  a  fellow,  I'd  knock  you 
down." 

"  Oh  no,  you  wouldn't,"  said  Victoria,  laughing 
good-humoredly,  "for  the  very  good  reason  that  I 
should  be  engaged  in  knocking  you  down!  You 
think  over  that  mushroom  plan,  Peter,"  she  con- 


PETER  SEEKS  INFORMATION.  93 

tinued,  as  she  rose  from  the  rock  upon  which  she 
had  been  sitting.  "  I  must  go  into  the  house  now 
and  see  what  there  is  to  be  done.  Come  along, 
Sophy,  and  tell  me  how  school  went  to-day." 

The  sisters  walked  away  together,  leaving  Peter 
to  ruminate  over  Victoria's  remarks.  He  looked 
after  them  for  a  moment  and  then  himself  departed. 
He  had  suddenly  determined  to  go  to  a  certain 
florist  who  owned  some  large  greenhouses  in  Ford- 
ham,  and  consult  with  him  as  to  the  best  method 
of  raising  mushrooms.  Perhaps  it  could  be  kept 
a  secret  from  the  boys  at  school.  At  any  rate, 
the  subject  was  worth  considering. 

He  walked  over  to  the  village  and  took  an 
electric  car,  which  carried  him  in  a  short  time 
almost  to  his  destination,  although  it  was  a  dis- 
tance of  some  miles.  Upon  leaving  the  car,  he 
had  a  walk  of  several  blocks,  and  his  way  was 
through  the  most  crowded  street  of  Fordham, — 
the  main  street,  in  fact,  upon  which  were  most  of 
the  shops,  and  which  at  this  hour  of  the  afternoon, 
when  the  trains  arrived  at  short  intervals  from 
Boston,  was  well  filled  with  people. 

Peter  walked  along,  paying  little  attention  to 
the  passers-by,  as  his  mind  reviewed  the  late  con- 


94  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

versation  with  Victoria,  when  he  was  attracted  by 
some  squirrels  in  a  cage.  The  cage  was  standing 
upon  a  barrel  outside  of  a  provision  store.  The 
store  was  on  a  corner,  and  the  squirrels  were  on 
the  side  street,  which  was  a  small  one. 

They  were  skipping  about  in  the  revolving  cage, 
engaged  in  an  ever-failing  attempt  to  make  prog- 
ress, and  compelled  to  pursue  their  ceaseless  round 
of  futile  activity.  Peter,  as  he  watched  them, 
wished  that  he  could  set  them  free.  He  wondered 
how  much  the  provision  dealer  would  sell  them 
for.  Then  he  remembered  that  there  was  little 
enough  money  to  spare,  and  none  with  which  to 
free  squirrels. 

For  a  wonder,  no  one  else  was  watching  the 
little  animals.  When  they  had  first  been  placed 
there,  a  small  crowd  had  gathered  daily  to  look 
at  their  antics ;  but  the  Fordham  youth  had  grown 
accustomed  to  them  now,  and  Peter  was  the  only 
one  who  stopped.  Presently,  however,  another  boy 
sauntered  up,  and  stood  a  little  beyond  Peter.  He 
was  very  shabbily  dressed,  and  Peter,  who  was  ob- 
servant, noticed  that  he  looked  hungry.  Instead  of 
watching  the  squirrels,  he  found  himself  watching 
the  boy,  who  was  quite  unconscious  of  it. 


PETER  SEEKS  INFORMATION.  95 

Presently  the  boy  put  out  his  hand  and  quietly 
abstracted  an  apple  from  a  barrel  that  was  stand- 
ing there,  and  dropped  it  into  his  pocket.  In  a  mo- 
ment he  repeated  the  operation.  Then  he  moved 
slightly,  and  his  gaze  encountered  Peter's.  In- 
stantly his  fist  doubled  up. 

"  If  you're  going  to  tell  on  me,  I'll  knock  you 
down,"  he  said. 

"  I'm  not  going  to  tell  on  you,  though  I'm  not 
afraid  of  your  knocking  me  down,"  returned  Peter. 
"  But  what  are  you  doing  it  for  ?  It  seems  to  me 
it's  a  pretty  mean  thing  to  do." 

"  I  guess  you'd  do  it  if  you  was  as  hungry  as  me," 
said  the  boy.  "  I  mean  to  take  another  —  there 
ain't  nobody  looking." 

"  Oh,  I  say,  don't ! "  said  Peter.  "  Haven't  you 
got  any  money  to  pay  for  them  ?  " 

"  Money !  I  ain't  seen  a  nickel  for  a  week,  and  I 
ain't  had  nothin'  to  eat  since  yesterday  morning." 

Peter  put  his  hand  in  his  pocket. 

"  I  haven't  got  much  myself,"  said  he,  pulling  out 
a  dime,  a  five-cent  piece,  and  some  pennies,  which 
he  placed  in  the  palm  of  one  hand  while  he  searched 
the  depths  of  his  pockets  with  the  other.  "  We 
haven't  got  much  money  ourselves,  nowadays,  but 


96      *  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

we've  got  enough  to  eat.  It  must  be  pretty  bad  to 
be  hungry.  I've  got  to  keep  five  cents  to  get  back 
to  Fordham  Falls,  but  I'd  be  glad  if  you'd  take  the 
rest,  and  I  wish  you'd  go  in  and  pay  for  those  apples." 

He  placed  the  money  upon  the  top  of  the  barrel 
which  held  the  squirrels'  cage,  and  walked  quickly 
away.  The  boy  looked  after  him  in  astonishment. 
Then  he  took  the  money  and  went  into  the  store 
with  the  apples  which  he  had  appropriated  in  his 
hand.  He  paid  for  them,  and  also  for  a  loaf  of 
bread,  and  then  he  hurried  up  the  main  street  in 
the  direction  in  which  Peter  had  walked.  He 
could  not  overtake  him,  however,  and  when  he  had 
reached  the  less  thickly  populated  part  of  the  town 
and  still  saw  nothing  of  his  benefactor,  he  turned 
aside  into  a  narrow  road,  and  sitting  down,  he  began 
to  devour  the  bread  and  apples,  from  time  to  time 
looking,  as  he  ate,  at  the  eight  cents  which  remained 
of  what  Peter  had  given  him.  He  felt  like  a  mil- 
lionaire. 

In  the  meantime  Peter  went  to  the  florist's,  and 
fortunately  finding  him  at  home,  proceeded  to  ques- 
tion him  closely  on  the  subject  for  which  he  had 
come.  After  spending  a  half-hour  in  interesting 
conversation  he  left  the  place,  and  as  it  was  yet  too 


PETER   SEEKS  INFORMATION.  97 

early  for  his  car  back  to  Fordham  Falls,  he  took 
a  roundabout  way  for  the  sake  of  using  up  his 
superfluous  time. 

As  he  walked  he  thought  he  heard  the  cry  of 
an  animal  in  pain.  Peter  was  passionately  fond 
of  living  creatures,  be  they  insects,  birds,  or  beasts, 
and  the  sound  that  he  heard  was  undoubtedly  the 
yelp  of  a  suffering  dog.  He  ran  in  the  direction 
from  which  it  proceeded,  and  very  soon,  upon  turn- 
ing a  corner  in  the  road,  came  upon  two  boys  who 
were  engaged  in  torturing  a  dog  which  they  had 
tied  to  the  fence  rail. 

Before  they  knew  what  had  happened,  one  boy 
was  rolling  in  the  ditch  by  the  side  of  the  road, 
and  the  other  was  being  pommelled  and  shaken 
by  an  infuriated  person,  who  had  apparently  sprung 
out  of  the  ground,  so  unexpectedly  had  his  pres- 
ence become  known  to  them. 

At  first  the  surprise  completely  paralyzed  the 
boys,  one  of  whom  was  larger  than  Peter,  the  other 
smaller;  but  they  soon  recovered  themselves,  and 
it  would  undoubtedly  have  gone  hard  with  the 
aggressor  had  he  not  been  suddenly  reinforced  by 
help  from  the  most  unlooked-for  quarter. 

The  boy  whom  Peter  had  met  in   front  of  the 


98  A   SUCCESSFUL   VENTURE. 

provision  store,  had  been  eating  his  bread  and 
apples  not  far  from  the  scene  of  the  fight.  Hear- 
ing the  sound  of  a  scuffle,  he  ran  down  the  road, 
and  saw  at  once  that  his  late  benefactor  was  evi- 
dently getting  the  worst  of  it.  Gratitude,  added  to 
the  food  which  Peter  had  given  him,  gave  strength 
to  the  newcomer,  and  in  a  few  moments  the  victory 
was  won. 

The  two  young  ruffians  were  prostrate  in  the 
road,  and  Peter  walked  away  with  the  injured  dog 
in  his  arms,  accompanied  by  his  new  friend. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

PETER'S  NEW  ACQUAINTANCES. 

AX J HEN  Victoria  and  Sophy  reached  the  house 
after  their  conversation  with  Peter,  they 
found  Honor  and  Katherine  still  struggling  with 
the  parlor  curtains.  Two  windows  were  finished, 
and  Katherine  was  in  the  act  of  mounting  the 
step-ladder  at  the  third,  when  her  younger  sisters 
appeared.  At  the  same  moment  Blanch  thrust  her 
head  in  the  doorway  at  the  back  of  the  hall. 

"  I  forgot  to  tell  yers,"  said  she,  "  there  ain't  no 
bread  in  the  house  for  supper." 

"Oh,  Blanch!"  cried  Honor,  turning  to  look  at 
her,  while  she  steadied  the  ladder.  "Why  didn't 
you  tell  me  before?" 

"  I  never  thought  of  it.  I  thought  yers'd  know 
it  yerselves." 

"  How  could  we  know  it  ?  I  can't  spend  all  my 
time  looking  into  the  bread-box,  and  I  had  no  idea 
the  last  baking  would  have  given  out  so  soon.  You 
will  have  to  make  some  biscuits  or  some  corn  bread." 

99 


100  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  I  ain't  never  made  any.  Of  course  I  know  how 
to  make  'em,  but  as  I  ain't  never  made  any,  yers 
mightn't  like  'em." 

"Very  well,"  replied  Honor,  with  as  much  maj- 
esty of  demeanor  as  she  could  assume  when  em- 
bracing a  step-ladder.  "  I  will  show  you  how 
presently." 

Though  Honor  was  not  as  tall  as  Katherine,  and 
was  very  slight,  she  could  be  extremely  dignified 
when  she  chose. 

Blanch's  head  disappeared,  and  the  door  closed 
with  a  bang. 

"  Why,  Honor,  do  you  know  how  yourself  ? " 
asked  Victoria. 

"  No,  I  haven't  the  least  idea,  but  I'm  not  going 
to  tell  her  so.  I  will  look  it  up  in  the  recipe  book. 
It  is  a  curious  thing  about  B.  Lafferty.  She  never 
will  acknowledge  that  she  can't  do  a  thing.  She  is 
the  most  conceited  person,  as  well  as  the  most 
aggravating,  that  I  ever  met." 

Katherine  at  the  top  of  the  ladder  laughed  as  she 
adjusted  the  curtain. 

"  You  must  be  taking  lessons  from  her,"  she 
said,  "  telling  her  that  you  would  show  her  how  to 
make  biscuits.  I  wonder  what  they  will  be  like ! 


PETER'S  NEW  ACQUAINTANCES.  IOI 

It  is  bad  enough  to  have  had  to  give  up  dining  late 
to  suit  Miss  B.  Lafferty's  fancies,  without  having  to 
go  without  bread  for  supper." 

"  You  take  my  place  at  the  ladder,  Vic,"  said 
Honor,  with  the  air  of  one  who  had  determined  to 
defy  fate,  "  and  I  will  find  the  recipe  book  and 
make  the  biscuits  !  " 

"  How  did  school  go  to-day  ? "  asked  Victoria, 
when  Honor  had  left  them. 

"  Oh,  beautifully !  Minnie  Chase  pinched  Bertha 
Hickens,  which  naturally  had  the  effect  of  making 
Bertha  howl  loudly,  and  that  frightened  Carry 
Deane  so  badly  that  she  began  to  cry,  which  so 
affected  Tommy  Deane  that  he  began  to  cry,  and 
presently  the  whole  school  was  weeping  and  in  an 
uproar.  Lessons  had  to  be  stopped  for  at  least 
twenty  minutes  while  Honor  and  I  wiped  eyes  and 
patted  shoulders  and  scolded  Minnie  for  being  the 
cause  of  it  all.  Oh,  it  went  beautifully !  Another 
tack  please,  Vic,  and  a  good  big  one.  There,  that 
is  the  last !  Dear  me,"  continued  Katherine,  stand- 
ing in  the  middle  of  the  room  and  looking  about 
her,  "  they  don't  look  as  they  ought  to,  but  I  can't 
help  it !  Honor  won't  have  the  man  from  Ford- 
ham,  so  we  shall  have  to  go  with  crooked  curtains. 


IO2  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

I  must  rush  now,  for  I  have  a  music  lesson  to  give. 
I  would  so  much  rather  stay  at  home  and  practise!" 

Honor  had  been  wrestling  with  her  recipe  books 
and  her  biscuits  for  more  than  an  hour,  Katherine 
had  given  her  music  lesson  and  returned,  and 
Victoria,  aided  by  Sophy, — who  was  perhaps  more 
of  a  hindrance  than  a  help,  but  whom  it  pleased  to 
be  called  into  service, — had  performed  various  house- 
hold duties,  and  still  Peter  did  not  come  back. 

It  was  no  unusual  matter  for  him  to  be  off  in 
the  woods  and  meadows  for  hours  at  a  time,  and 
therefore  his  sisters  were  not  in  the  least  alarmed 
by  his  absence,  especially  as  Victoria  suspected 
that  he  had  acted  upon  her  suggestion  and  had 
gone  to  consult  the  Fordham  florist. 

When  the  clock  struck  six,  however,  and  he 
had  not  yet  come,  they  began  to  wonder  as  to 
his  whereabouts,  and  Sophy  went  to  one  of  the 
second-story  windows  and  took  up  her  station 
there.  The  sun  had  set,  but  a  young  moon  was 
shining  brightly,  and  she  could  see  plainly  the 
beautiful  lawn,  dotted  with  the  fine  old  trees  now 
quite  bare  of  leaves,  across  which  Peter  might  be 
expected  to  come  if  he  had  gone  to  Fordham  by 
the  electric  car,  as  Victoria  supposed. 


PETER'S  NEW  ACQUAINTANCES.  103 

Sophy  watched  for  some  time  in  silence,  but  at 
last  her  scrutiny  was  rewarded. 

"  Here  he  comes,"  she  cried,  "  and  he  is  carry- 
ing something,  and  there's  somebody  with  him ! 
Who  do  you  s'pose  it  is  ?  It  is  a  boy,  and  he 
looks  raggedy,  and  it's  a  dog!  I  really  think  it's 
a  truly  dog !  Vic,  where  are  you  ?  " 

Sophy,  in  great  excitement,  ran  from  her  post 
of  observation  and  hurried  down  the  stairs.  The 
front  door  was  thrown  open,  and  Peter  entered, 
tenderly  carrying  a  good-sized  yellow  dog,  whose 
leg  was  bound  up  and  whose  head  lay  limply 
upon  his  arm,  and  accompanied  by  a  boy  who, 
as  Sophy  had  said,  was  "  raggedy." 

The  four  sisters  gathered  from  different  parts 
of  the  house  and  surveyed  the  newcomers,  sur- 
prise mingled  with  disapprobation  being  unmis- 
takably depicted  on  the  countenances  of  all,  with 
the  exception,  perhaps,  of  Sophy's. 

"  I  want  some  witch  hazel,"  said  Peter,  "  and 
some  kind  of  an  ointment  or  something.  Vic,  get 
it  for  me,  will  you  ?  This  dog's  leg  is  broken, 
and  he  has  a  lot  of  wounds.  This  is  Dave 
Carney.  He's  going  to  stay  to  tea." 

"  Peter !  "  said  four  voices. 


104  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"Well,"  said  he,  "what's  the  matter?" 

"  You  look  exactly  as  if  you  had  been  in  a  fight." 

"So  I  have." 

"Oh,  Peter!  But  are  you  —  are  you  going  to 
fix  the  dog's  leg  here  ? " 

"  Oh,  I'll  take  him  down  to  the  barn,  if  you 
like.  I  suppose  you  will  all  make  a  terrible  fuss, 
if  I  don't.  Isn't  he  a  nice  dog?  Some  fellows 
were  hurting  him,  but  we  floored  'em,  Carney 
and  I." 

Carney,  in  the  meantime,  had  retired  to  the 
least  conspicuous  position  that  he  could  find. 
He  stood  far  back  by  the  door,  and  he  twirled  his 
shabby  cap  in  his  hand,  looking  the  while  as 
though  he  would  prefer  to  be  in  any  place  but 
that  in  which  he  found  himself. 

Honor  and  Victoria,  who  were  on  the  broad 
staircase,  turned  towards  one  another.  Honor's 
pretty  eyebrows  were  drawn  together  in  a  frown, 
and  her  face  said  as  plainly  as  though  she  had 
spoken,  "What  are  we  to  do  about  it?" 

"I  will  get  the  witch  hazel,'*  said  Victoria,  aloud, 
"  and  will  bring  it  down  to  the  barn.  You  and 
—  and  your  friend  had  better  take  the  dog  down 
there  now,  Peter,  and  make  a  bed  for  him." 


PETER'S  NEW  ACQUAINTANCES.  10$ 

"  Bring  some  old  rags,"  commanded  Peter,  "  and 
something  nice  and  soft  for  him  to  lie  on.  This 
would  do,"  he  added,  picking  up  a  white  chudda  shawl 
which  hung  over  the  back  of  one  of  the  hall  chairs. 

"  My  best  white  shawl !  "  cried  Katherine,  spring- 
ing forward  just  in  time  to  rescue  it  before  it  was 
wrapped  about  the  suffering  animal.  "What  are 
you  thinking  of,  Peter?  Do  take  that  dirty  dog 
out  of  the  house!  I  never  saw  such  a  boy." 

Victoria,  as  she  hurried  up  the  stairs,  sighed  to 
herself. 

"Oh,  dear!"  she  thought.  "I  am  afraid  Kath- 
erine will  say  just  the  wrong  thing,  and  before  we 
know  it  Peter  will  insist  upon  keeping  the  dog 
in  the  house,  and  having  the  boy  at  the  supper- 
table.  Where  did  he  pick  them  up  ? " 

But  Peter,  whatever  may  have  been  his  first 
impulse,  decided  that,  after  all,  it  would  be  the 
wiser  course  to  repair  to  the  barn,  and  here  Vic- 
toria found  him  with  his  new  friend,  when  she  and 
Sophy  followed  with  the  remedies. 

The  dog  was,  without  doubt,  very  much  hurt ; 
but  he  seemed  to  appreciate  all  that  was  being 
done  for  him,  and  he  looked  lovingly  at  Peter  as 
he  bathed  his  wounds  and  bound  up  his  leg. 


106  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  How  would  you  like  to  have  your  supper  out 
here,  Peter?"  said  Victoria,  who  had  been  ponder- 
ing the  situation.  "  Then  you  could  stay  near  the 
dog  and  see  that  he  is  all  right." 

"  Well,"  said  Peter,  slowly,  "  I  don't  know  but 
it  would  be  a  good  plan.  What  do  you  say, 
Carney?" 

But  Carney  was  too  bashful  to  speak. 

It  was  a  happy  solution  of  the  difficulty,  and 
Victoria  and  Sophy  hurried  back  to  the  house, 
and  had  soon  packed  a  basket  for  the  picnic  in 
the  barn.  Honor's  biscuits,  made  so  early  in  the 
afternoon,  had  risen  and  fallen  again  long  since, 
and  were  now  little  lumps  of  hard  and  sodden 
dough ;  but  the  sisters  thought  that  the  boys 
would  doubtless  enjoy  them,  and  they  bestowed 
them  with  a  generous  hand. 

"We  can  eat  crackers  ourselves,"  said  Kather- 
ine.  "  I  don't  want  to  hurt  your  feelings,  Honor, 
but  —  but  —  do  look  in  the  bread-box  to-morrow, 
please ! " 

Honor  had  seated  herself  in  her  place  at  the 
head  of  the  table.  The  old  silver  service  and  the 
delicate  cups  and  saucers  gleamed  in  the  light 
which  fell  from  the  candles.  The  table  was 


PETER'S  NEW  ACQUAINTANCES.  107 

covered  with  a  cloth  of  the  finest  damask,  a  sil- 
ver jardiniere  of  ferns  ornamented  the  centre,  and 
at  the  four  corners  stood  tall  silver  candlesticks 
of  massive  design.  No  one  would  ever  have 
dreamed  that  the  family  who  were  to  gather 
about  this  table  had  not  all  the  money  they 
needed. 

The  eldest  sister  leaned  back  in  her  chair  and 
sighed. 

"  It  is  perfectly  dreadful,"  she  exclaimed,  "  that 
I  don't  know  the  first  thing  about  cooking !  What 
am  I  to  do  ?  I  went  into  the  kitchen  determined 
that  that  odious  B.  Lafferty  should  never  suspect 
that  I  hadn't  made  biscuits  every  day  of  my  life, 
but  I  couldn't  have  impressed  her  that  way,  for 
she  stood  looking  at  me  with  the  most  supercilious 
expression.  She  insisted  upon  taking  the  dough 
and  the  roller  right  out  of  my  hands.  She  de- 
clared that  she  knew  better  than  I  did  about 
making  them,  and  the  worst  of  it  was,  I  didn't 
know  whether  she  did  or  not,  and  these  are  the 
result.  Hear  them  !  " 

Honor  lifted  one  of  the  biscuits  and  let  it  drop 
upon  the  table.  It  sounded  like  the  fall  of  a 
little  stone. 


108  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  You  will  have  to  take  cooking  lessons,"  said 
Katherine.  "  They  don't  really  cost  much,  and 
it  would  pay  in  the  end." 

"  They  may  not  cost  much,  but  when  we  have 
scarcely  a  cent  in  our  pockets  and  owe  bills,  we 
can't  afford  lessons  in  anything.  No,  I  shall  have 
to  keep  a  sharp  lookout  on  the  bread-box,  and 
trust  to  luck  about  other  things.  I  am  afraid 
she  only  knows  how  to  make  two  puddings,  for 
when  I  speak  about  the  dessert,  there  is  always 
some  reason  why  it  must  be  either  cornstarch  or 
tapioca.  I  am  perfectly  certain  they  are  the  only 
kinds  she  can  make." 

"  Why  not  give  up  having  dessert  ? "  suggested 
Victoria,  as  she  adjusted  the  cover  of  the  basket. 
"  It  would  save  a  little  money." 

"  Victoria !  "  exclaimed  her  sisters  together. 

"  We  are  coming  down  pretty  low,  if  we  can't 
have  dessert,"  said  Katherine.  "  What  are  you 
thinking  of?" 

"  Only  of  saving  money ;  and  a  lamp  on  the 
supper  table  would  be  cheaper  than  candles,"  said 
Vic,  as  she  took  up  the  basket  and  left  the  room. 
"  Come,  Sophy.  You  carry  the  pitcher  of  milk. 
Don't  spill  it,  child." 


PETER'S  NEW  ACQUAINTANCES.  109 

"  I  don't  know  where  Vic  gets  those  scrimpy 
ideas,"  said  Katherine,  when  they  had  gone.  "She 
actually  said  again  to-day  that  she  thought  we 
could  do  without  salad,  that  the  sweet  oil  for  the 
dressing  was  so  expensive ;  and  when  we  went 
to  Boston  together  the  other  day,  she  insisted  upon 
walking  all  the  way  from  the  station  to  Aunt 
Sophia's,  just  to  save  five  cents !  She  was  per- 
fectly horrified  at  my  getting  those  embroidered 
handkerchiefs,  and  yet  they  were  so  cheap.  It  is 
a  perfect  bore  to  have  her  so." 

Honor  said  nothing.  She  thought  that  Victoria 
went  to  an  extreme,  perhaps ;  but  it  was  better  for 
the  family  purse  than  Katherine's  course,  and  the 
suggestion  about  the  candles  contained  a  good  deal 
of  common  sense.  A  lamp  would  do  just  as  well, 
and  candles  were  expensive ;  but  then  they  made 
the  table  look  so  much  prettier.  How  provoking 
it  was,  thought  Honor,  to  be  obliged  to  do  without 
so  small  and  simple  a  luxury  as  candles  on  the 
supper-table ! 

With  an  air  of  resignation,  she  rose  and  lighted 
a  lamp,  which  she  placed  upon  the  table.  Then 
she  blew  out  the  candles,  and  removed  them  to  the 
mantelpiece. 


IIO  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"Oh,  Honor!"  cried  Katherine.  "Why  do  you 
do  that  ?  You  are  getting  to  be  as  bad  as  Vic  her- 
self. You  might  at  least  leave  them  on  the  table 
unlighted." 

"  For  the  mere  show  of  them  ? "  said  Honor. 
"  Never !  and  Vic  is  right.  Candles  are  expensive. 
I  wonder  if  there  is  anything  else  we  can  give  up." 

And  she  looked  about  with  a  gesture  of  despair. 

"  Sugar  in  our  tea,  I  suppose,"  said  Katherine, 
with  what  she  considered  fine  sarcasm,  "  or  even 
tea  itself.  Perhaps  you  would  like  to  do  without 
forks.  We  can  sell  the  silver,  for  instance.  For 
my  part,  I  shall  never  give  in  to  this  stingy  spirit 
that  is  taking  possession  of  the  rest  of  you.  I  am 
sure  we  are  not  as  poor  as  all  that,  and  we  are 
certainly  making  money." 

Honor  made  no  reply.  When  Katherine  talked 
in  this  strain,  it  was  useless  to  argue  with  her, 
and  presently  Victoria  and  Sophy  returned,  and 
they  took  their  places  at  the  table. 

Dave  Carney  spent  some  time  with  Peter  in  the 
barn,  and  when  he  left,  he  promised  to  return  the 
next  day,  and  see  how  the  dog  was  progressing. 
When  Peter  asked  him  where  he  lived,  he  returned 
an  evasive  answer.  The  two  boys,  so  differently 


PE  TER  'S  NE  W  A  CQ  UAINTANCES.  1 1 1 

placed  in  the  world,  found  that  they  had  much  in 
common.  Dave  knew  almost  as  much  as  Peter 
did  about  the  ways  of  animals  and  birds,  and  was 
deeply  interested  in  all  that  his  new  friend  had  to 
say  upon  the  subject,  besides  recounting  many  of 
his  own  experiences  in  the  woods. 

When  he  came  the  next  day,  he  offered  to  help 
Peter  with  his  mushrooms,  and  in  return  for  this 
Peter,  at  Victoria's  suggestion,  presented  him  with 
a  full  suit  of  outgrown  clothes  which  fitted  him 
exactly;  for  although  he  was  older  than  Peter,  he 
was  of  slighter  build  and  was  shorter.  Peter  super- 
intended his  toilet  when  he  tried  on  the  garments 
at  the  barn,  fastening  his  collar  for  him,  and  even 
tying  a  blue  cravat  about  his  neck.  Finally  he 
placed  a  brown  cap  upon  his  head. 

"  There,"  said  he,  "  you  look  like  a  regular  dude." 

Dave  surveyed  himself  in  the  little  mirror  and 
then  glanced  at  his  nice  trousers  and  whole  shoes. 
A  pleased  smile  stole  over  his  face,  and  then  he 
looked  at  Peter. 

"  I'll  never  forgit  it,"  said  he. 

It  was  finally  arranged  that  Carney  should  come 
to  Glen  Arden  every  day  to  do  whatever  came  to 
hand,  in  return  for  his  three  meals  and  a  small 


112  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

sum  weekly.  He  was  to  take  part  in  the  mush- 
room culture  and  to  assist  Victoria  with  her  violets, 
and  also  to  carry  coal  for  B.  Lafferty.  Even 
Honor,  who  had  at  first  disapproved  of  this 
arrangement,  found  him  useful  in  many  different 
ways.  He  was  always  ready  to  go  to  the  village 
upon  an  errand,  or  to  make  himself  useful  about 
the  house.  In  fact,  Dave  Carney  soon  came  to  be 
regarded  as  an  important  and  indispensable  mem- 
ber of  the  family,  and  as  he  ate  with  Blanch  in  the 
kitchen,  that  difficulty  no  longer  existed. 

Peter  told  no  one,  not  even  Victoria,  of  the  inci- 
dent which  led  to  his  acquaintance  with  Carney, 
and  the  boy  knew  this,  and  his  gratitude  increased 
tenfold. 

Peter  made  two  warm  friends  that  day.  The 
dog  soon  recovered,  and  his  devotion  to  the  boy 
who  had  saved  his  life  was  touching  in  the  extreme. 
When  Peter  was  at  home  he  never  left  him,  and 
when  he  was  at  school  he  wandered  disconsolately 
about  the  house  or  place,  taking  up  his  position  at 
the  head  of  the  avenue  when  the  time  approached 
for  his  master  to  return,  and  rushing  to  meet  him 
when  he  appeared  in  the  distance. 

Since  his  recovery  and  owing  to  the  numerous 


PETER'S  NEW  ACQUAINTANCES.  113 

baths  which  Peter  and  Carney  gave  him  he  had  so 
far  improved  in  appearance  that  the  sisters  con- 
sented to  his  presence  in  the  house ;  and  they  soon 
became  greatly  attached  to  him,  although  he  paid 
but  little  attention  to  any  one  but  his  master.  He 
was  not  a  handsome  dog,  being  tall  and  ungainly, 
with  a  coat  of  yellowish  bristly  hair.  He  was  un- 
mistakably a  mongrel,  and  perhaps  for  that  very 
reason  was  unusually  intelligent.  He  knew  each 
one  of  the  family  by  name  almost  immediately,  and 
seemed  to  understand  everything  that  was  said  to 
him.  Victoria  declared  that  he  was  the  brightest  of 
the  Starrs,  and  hence  came  his  name. 

There  was  great  discussion  upon  this  point, 
and  for  days  the  newcomer  went  unchristened. 
Apparently  he  had  never  had  a  name  before,  for 
although  they  tried  every  title  by  which  a  dog 
could  possibly  be  known,  he  failed  to  respond, 
and  only  smiled  roguishly  at  their  efforts,  for  he 
was  a  happy-hearted  dog  with  a  most  cheerful 
smile.  Nothing  that  was  suggested  satisfied  the 
critical  Peter.  Finally  Honor  said,  "  He  will  just 
have  to  go  without  a  name.  He  will  have  to  be 
known  as  the  Starr  dog." 

"  Or  the  dog  Starr,"  said  Victoria,  quickly.     "  Do 


114  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

you  see  ?  The  dog-star !  By  the  way,  what  is  the 
name  of  the  dog-star.  Let  us  look  it  up  in  the 
Encyclopaedia." 

They  did  so,  and  found  that  it  was  "  Sirius,"  and 
also  that  Sirius  was  the  brightest  of  the  fixed  stars. 

"  And  this  is  the  brightest  of  these  Starrs," 
cried  Victoria,  as  she  hugged  the  long-suffering 
but  none  the  less  fortunate  animal.  "  Do,  Peter, 
name  him  Sirius  !  " 

And  for  a  wonder  Peter  consented;  and  although 
"  Sirius  "  was  a  difficult  name  to  call  when  one  was 
in  a  hurry,  for  instance,  it  was  such  an  appropriate 
title  that  no  one  objected. 

In  the  meantime  the  month  of  November  drew 
to  a  close,  and  on  the  first  day  of  December  the 
amount  of  mail  for  the  family  at  Glen  Arden  was 
unusually  large.  There  was  the  grocer's  bill,  and 
the  butcher's  bill,  and  there  were  other  household 
accounts ;  but  in  addition  to  these  there  was  the 
one  from  the  school-furniture  store  in  Boston. 
It  was  addressed  to  Honor,  and  with  an  exclama- 
tion of  dismay  she  glanced  at  the  amount.  Fifty- 
five  dollars  and  eighty  cents ! 

"  Oh,  Katherine  !  "  she  said,  looking  at  her  sister, 
and  letting  the  bill  fall  into  her  lap. 


PETER'S  NEW  ACQUAINTANCES.  115 

"  What  is  the  matter  ?  "  asked  Katherine.  "  You 
look  as  if  you  had  seen  a  ghost." 

"  I  have,"  said  Honor,  solemnly.  "  This  is  the 
bill  for  the  schoolroom  furniture." 

"  Well,  you  expected  it,  didn't  you  ?  How  much 
is  it?" 

"  Fifty-five  dollars  and  eighty  cents !  " 

"  I  am  sure  that  isn't  very  much,"  returned 
Katherine,  easily.  "  Scarcely  more  than  fifty 
dollars." 

"  But  we  haven't  got  it.  How  are  we  going 
to  pay  for  it,  and  why  did  you  get  all  these 
things  ? "  groaned  Honor,  as  she  looked  at  the  items. 
"  Five  dollars  for  the  globe,  and  we  could  easily 
have  done  without  it,  or  used  a  little  cheap  one. 
Five  dollars  for  the  blackboard !  And  all  this  for 
copy-books  and  blank-books  !  You  ought  never  to 
have  bought  them,  and  if  you  did,  you  oughtn't 
to  have  had  them  charged.  And  have  you  begun 
to  make  any  money  with  your  typewriter  yet  ? " 

Katherine  did  not  reply. 

"  Have  you  even  learned  to  use  it  yet  ?  Have 
you  done  anything  with  it  ?  The  money  you 
spent  on  that  typewriter  might  just  as  well  have 
been  thrown  into  the  river.  Katherine,  Katherine, 


Il6  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

how  could  you  do  it !  I  verily  believe  we  shall 
have  to  apply  to  Aunt  Sophia  for  help." 

Katherine  sprang  from  her  seat. 

"  Never!  "  she  said.  "  Honor,  you  are  too  absurd. 
I  tell  you,  we  are  making  money  with  the  school 
and  the  music  scholars.  As  for  the  typewriter, 
you  are  too  disagreeable !  Of  course  it  will  pay 
in  time.  I  —  I  haven't  had  time  to  learn  to  use 
it  yet." 

She  dared  not  add  that  her  ardor  had  been 
somewhat  lessened  by  a  small  paragraph  which 
she  had  chanced  to  see  in  the  newspaper.  It  was 
to  the  effect  that  the  use  of  the  typewriter  unfitted 
the  fingers  for  the  piano,  that  they  were  apt  to 
become  stiff  and  to  lose  their  accustomed  skill. 
It  was  only  a  newspaper  paragraph,  to  be  sure, 
but  it  had  frightened  Katherine.  She  even  ac- 
knowledged to  herself  that  she  regretted  her  pur- 
chase, but  she  had  no  intention  of  making  this 
known  to  her  sisters. 

And  in  the  meantime,  how  should  the  bills  be 
paid  ? 


CHAPTER   VII. 

VICTORIA    GOES    IN    SEARCH    OF    FUNDS. 

LJONOR  thought  over  the  subject  during  the 
day  and  decided  that  they  must  hold  a  council 
of  war.  Some  means  must  be  decided  upon  for 
paying  the  bills.  It  was  precisely  one  month 
since  they  had  undertaken  to  support  themselves, 
and  already  they  were  in  difficulty.  It  would  be 
humiliating  to  be  forced  to  appeal  so  soon  to  Mr. 
Abbott  for  help,  and  yet  they  would  far  rather  ask 
him  than  their  Aunt  Sophia.  But  perhaps  there 
was  some  other  way. 

The  school  bills  had  been  sent  out, — they  were 
issued  in  advance,  —  but  as  yet  there  had  been 
no  response,  and  even  when  there  was,  the  amount 
would  help  very  little.  Six  children  at  twenty 
dollars  each  for  the  term,  one  hundred  and  twenty 
dollars.  The  household  bills  for  the  month  of 
November  amounted  to  what  seemed  a  large  sum 
in  these  straitened  times,  —  and  they  did  not 

117 


Il8  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

include  the  one  for  the  school  furniture,  —  and  the 
money  which  they  should  receive  from  the  pupils 
would  be  for  the  next  four  months. 

There  were  the  music  scholars,  to  be  sure,  but 
they  were  but  five,  and  Katherine  received  only 
fifty  cents  an  hour.  Mushrooms  and  violets, 
though  a  paying  industry  in  theory,  had  not  yet 
begun  to  show  practical  results.  Six  hundred 
dollars  a  year  came  to  them,  as  they  supposed, 
from  their  father's  estate,  and  there  were  five  per- 
sons to  be  clothed  and  fed.  Had  they  been  foolish, 
after  all,  not  to  accept  their  aunt's  offer?  Honor, 
sitting  in  the  western  window  of  the  parlor  that 
afternoon  in  December,  while  she  waited  for  her 
sisters  to  join  her  there,  wondered  if  they  had  made 
a  mistake. 

There  had  been  a  light  fall  of  snow  that  day, 
just  enough  to  whiten  the  ground  and  to  rest 
lightly  upon  the  branches  of  the  cedar  trees.  The 
sun  was  shining  now,  shortly  before  setting,  and 
the  world  looked  very  beautiful.  But  Honor  was 
in  no  mood  to  enjoy  the  prospect.  She  felt  an 
overburdening  sense  of  responsibility.  She  was 
the  eldest,  the  family  were  practically  left  in  her 
care,  and  she  missed  her  father  more  than  words 


VICTORIA    GOES  IN  SEARCH  OF  FUNDS.  119 

could  express.     Was  she  doing  right  to  refuse  the 
help  which  her  father's  sister  had  offered? 

Presently  the  front  door  opened,  and  Victoria 
walked  in.  She  was  singing,  to  a  tune  of  her  own 
invention,  her  favorite  quotation  from  Shakespeare: 

"  Jog  on,  jog  on  the  footpath  way, 
And  merrily  hent  the  stile  —  a. 
A  merry  heart  goes  all  the  way, 
Your  sad  tires  in  a  mile  —  a." 

She  was  about  to  begin  it  for  the  second  time, 
when  she  saw  Honor  sitting  on  the  sofa  in  the  bay- 
window.  Her  very  attitude  appeared  depressed, 
for  she  was  leaning  her  head  on  her  hand,  as  her 
elbow  rested  on  the  back  of  the  sofa,  and  she  idly 
swung  one  foot  to  and  fro. 

"  It  is  just  perfect  out,"  said  Victoria,  coming 
into  the  room.  A  bright  color  glowed  in  her 
cheeks,  and  her  voice  was  gay  and  exhilarated 
from  her  walk  in  the  fresh  air.  "It  is  growing 
colder,  and  there  is  a  snap  about  everything. 
Have  you  been  out,  Honor?" 

"No." 

"  Not  all  day  ?  Oh,  put  on  your  things  and 
come  out  for  a  walk !  It  is  just  the  afternoon  for 
it." 


I2O  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  No,"  said  Honor,  "  I  am  waiting  for  you  and 
Katherine.  I  don't  know  where  she  can  be." 

"  What  do  you  want  us  for  ? "  asked  Victoria, 
feeling  a  pang  of  something  like  depression,  her 
sister's  tone  was  so  dreary. 

"  I  want  to  talk  things  over,  and  here  comes 
Katherine  at  last.  I  thought  you  were  never 
coming.  Where  have  you  been,  Katherine  ?  In- 
deed, somebody  must  suggest  some  way  of  getting 
money  at  once.  Those  bills  are  weighing  upon 
me." 

"There  is  a  way,"  said  Victoria,  taking  the  other 
corner  of  the  sofa,  while  Katherine  threw  herself 
into  an  arm-chair.  "  There  is  a  way,  but  I  sup- 
pose you  will  both  be  perfectly  horrified  if  I  even 
suggest  it." 

"What  is  it?  "asked  her  sisters. 

"Will  you  promise  not  to  exclaim?" 

"  It  couldn't  possibly  surprise  us  after  your 
other  suggestions,"  remarked  Katherine,  gloomily. 
"  I  shall  be  quite  resigned,  even  if  you  tell  us  we 
are  to  live  on  bread  and  water  and  wear  ready- 
made  clothes  at  five  dollars  a  suit." 

"We  might  do  worse,"  said  Victoria,  "  but  this 
»e  quite  different.  We  have  so  many  things  "  (she 


VICTORIA    GOES  IN  SEARCH  OF  FUNDS.  121 

looked  about  the  room  as  she  spoke),  "  why  —  in- 
deed, girls,  I  scarcely  dare  say  it  —  why  can't  we 
sell  something  ? " 

There  was  a  moment  of  silence.  Honor  was 
the  first  to  find  her  voice. 

"Sell  something!"  she  exclaimed.    "Sell  what?" 

"  Oh,  a  picture  or  two,  or  some  books,  or  a 
piece  of  silver.  Or  isn't  there  any  jewelry?" 

"  Why,  Victoria,  you  can't  really  mean  it  ? " 
cried  Katherine,  in  an  incredulous  voice.  "  I 
can't  think  that  you  really  mean  it." 

"Sell  our  family  heirlooms?"  exclaimed  Honor, 
starting  to  her  feet  and  gazing  at  her  younger 
sister  with  the  air  of  a  tragedy  queen.  "  Sell 
the  books  and  the  pictures  that  father  collected 
with  so  much  pride  ?  Sell  the  silver  which  be- 
longed to  our  great-great-grandmother?  Victoria, 
are  you  perfectly  crazy  ? " 

"  No,"  said  Victoria,  stoutly,  "  not  at  all  so,  but 
I  knew  you  would  take  it  in  that  way.  Of 
course,  I  don't  mean  the  family  things,  but  I 
mean  some  of  the  books,  or  those  etchings  that 
are  in  the  portfolio.  I  know  well  enough  how 
dearly  father  loved  them,  but  he  certainly  loved 
us  more,  and  if  he  were  here  now  and  knew  how 


122  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

poor  we  are,  he  would  be  the  first  to  say  that 
we  must  do  something  to  get  money,  and  that 
we  had  better  sell  such  useless  things  as  those 
etchings  are.  They  don't  do  us  any  good,  for 
we  never  look  at  them,  and  he  would  far  rather 
have  us  sell  them  than  owe  money.  You  know 
father  had  a  perfect  horror  of  unpaid  bills." 

Victoria  spoke  rapidly,  for  she  had  become 
excited.  The  opposition  manifested  by  her  sisters 
only  served  to  strengthen  her  belief  in  the  com- 
mon sense  of  her  suggestion,  and  she  felt  con- 
fident that  her  plan  was  a  good  one. 

"  I  was  wondering  if  Aunt  Sophia  wouldn't 
buy  something  of  us." 

"  Victoria ! !  " 

"Well,  you  needn't  be  so  shocked.  Aunt 
Sophia  with  all  her  aggravatingness  is  very  kind- 
hearted,  and  she  is  fond  of  us  in  a  way.  She 
might  buy  something  of  us,  and  when  we  grow 
rich  we  could  buy  it  back  again." 

"  When  we  do ! "  said  Katherine,  with  fine  sar- 
casm. "  All  I  can  say  is  that  if  Aunt  Sophia  is 
to  be  applied  to,  I  shall  have  nothing  to  do  with 
it.  Victoria  can  run  the  affair  herself." 

"  Very   well,"    returned    Victoria,   "  if    Honor   is 


VICTORIA    GOES  IN  SEARCH  OF  FUNDS.  123 

willing,  I  will.  I  will  go  to  town  to-morrow,  and 
see  Aunt  Sophia.  I  only  wish  Mr.  Abbott  were 
at  home,  but  he  said  his  business  would  keep 
him  away  two  weeks.  Shall  I  go,  Honor  ? " 

"  I  suppose  so,"  said  Honor,  drearily.  "  I  have 
nothing  more  to  say." 

"  To-night  we  can  talk  over  what  we  had  better 
offer  for  sale,"  continued  Victoria.  "  I  think  it  will 
be  quite  good  fun,  girls." 

"  It  is  not  my  idea  of  fun,"  said  Honor,  "  but  I 
am  willing  to  do  almost  anything  for  a  little  money. 
How  little  we  supposed  this  time  last  year  that  we 
should  ever  be  in  such  need !  It  just  shows  that 
we  can't  be  sure  of  anything." 

"  By  the  way,"  said  Victoria,  abruptly  changing 
the  subject,  "  did  you  know  that  the  house  on  the 
hill  has  been  taken  ?  " 

"  One  of  my  scholars  said  something  about  it 
to-day,"  said  Katherine.  "  She  said  their  name  was 
Madison,  and  there  are  a  girl  and  a  boy,  I  believe. 
I  wonder  if  they  are  nice." 

"  I  hope  so,  as  they  are  to  be  such  near  neigh- 
bors." 

"  That  won't  make  any  difference,"  remarked 
Honor,  "for  we  shall  see  nothing  of  them.  We 


124  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

have  no  time  to  make  new  acquaintances  and  we 
are  too  poor.  If  they  have  taken  the  house  on  the 
hill,  they  must  be  very  well  off,  and  that  is  all  the 
more  reason  for  us  to  avoid  them.  We  are  nothing 
but  paupers,  working  for  our  living." 

"  Honor,  how  morbid  you  are  getting  on  that 
subject!"  cried  Victoria,  while  Katherine  laughed 
somewhat  bitterly.  "  If  they  are  nice,  I  shall  be 
glad  to  know  them,  and  so  will  you.  Do  cheer  up 
a  bit,"  she  added,  rising  as  she  spoke.  "  I  am  going 
to  find  Peter  now  and  see  how  they  are  progressing 
with  the  mushroom  bed.  Don't  worry,  Honor.  It 
will  all  come  right  some  day. 

"'Jog  on,  jog  on  the  footpath  way, 
And  merrily  hent  the  stile  —  a.'" 

The  sisters  heard  the  fresh  young  voice  as  Vic- 
toria, having  put  on  her  jacket  again,  departed  in 
search  of  Peter.  Katherine  seated  herself  at  the 
piano,  as  she  was  apt  to  do  when  under  any  stress  of 
emotion,  and  Honor  went  to  her  own  room.  She 
was  determined  that  no  one  should  see  her  cry  if 
she  could  help  it,  but  life  was  at  present  very  dis- 
heartening, let  Victoria  suggest  and  sing  as  she 
would. 


VICTORIA    GOES  IN  SEARCH  OF  FUNDS.  1 25 

Vic  on  her  way  to  the  barn  met  Sophy,  and 
together  they  sought  their  brother.  They  found 
him  sitting  with  Dave  Carney  in  the  harness-room. 

"  Oh,  come  along  in,"  said  he  with  unexpected 
cordiality,  while  Carney  rose  from  the  box  upon 
which  he  was  seated,  and  Sirius  rapped  a  welcome 
on  the  floor  with  his  long  tail.  The  oddest  part 
of  Sirius's  somewhat  grotesque  appearance  was  the 
great  length  of  his  tail. 

"  We  were  just  talking  about  the  mushroom  bed, 
and  we  can't  decide  whether  to  have  it  in  the 
cellar,  or  in  the  shed,  or  in  the  barn,  or  out  of 
doors.  Of  course  you  don't  really  know  any  more 
about  it,  Vic,  than  I  do,  but  what  do  you  think  ? " 

"  Did  you  send  for  the  books? "  asked  his  sister, 
as  she  seated  herself. 

"  Yes,  and  they  came  by  the  noon  mail.  A  lot 
about  edible  mushrooms,  and  here  it  tells  how  to 
raise  them,"  said  Peter,  giving  her  two  or  three 
pamphlets  which  he  had  been  studying. 

He  had,  upon  the  suggestion  of  the  florist  at 
Fordham,  sent  to  Washington  for  these  pamphlets, 
which  were  printed  and  published  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture. 

"  I  really  believe  it  is  going  to  be  a  good  thing, 


126  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

Vic.  They  seem  easy  to  raise,  and  I  shouldn't 
wonder  if  there  was  money  in  them.  We  might 
live  on  them  ourselves,  and  save  butcher's  bills. 
You  know  the  Chinese  eat  them  a  lot." 

"  Yes,  I  know,"  responded  Victoria,  although 
somewhat  doubtfully ;  "  but  then  it  always  seems 
as  if  the  Chinese  ate  such  queer  things  —  mice, 
for  instance.  I  don't  think  I  should  like  to  copy 
the  Chinese." 

"  Pooh !  You  don't  really  believe  that  they  eat 
mice,  do  you  ?  "  said  Peter,  with  lofty  scorn.  "  A 
lot  is  made  up  about  the  Chinese,  because  we  don't 
really  know  much  about  them.  But  they  do  a 
large  business  in  mushrooms,  or  '  edible  fungi,'  as 
they  are  called.  They  import  them  from  Japan 
and  Tahiti,  and  even  from  Australia  and  New 
Zealand.  They  make  soup  out  of  fungus  in  China; 
and  do  you  know  in  New  Zealand  they  eat  a 
fungus  that  grows  out  of  the  body  of  a  big  cater- 
pillar." 

"  Oh,  horrible  !  "  cried  Victoria.  "  Sophy's  eyes 
look  as  big  as  saucers.  Don't  tell  any  more  such 
dreadful  tales,  Peter.  We  won't  raise  that  kind,  at 
any  rate.  Have  you  decided  where  to  have  the 
beds  ? " 


VICTORIA    GOES  IN  SEARCH  OF  FUNDS.  127 

"  That's  just  what  we  were  talking  about  before 
you  came  out.  I  was  thinking  of  the  shed  at  the 
back  of  the  barn,  and  Carney  thinks  that  would 
be  a  good  place.  I  don't  believe  out  of  doors  will 
do  in  our  climate ;  and  Smith,  the  man  at  Ford- 
ham,  said  the  shed  was  the  best.  I  wish  we  could 
make  a  regular  mushroom  house,  like  the  ones 
they  show  pictures  of  in  these  pamphlets,  but 
I  suppose  it  would  cost  a  good  deal." 

"  We  had  better  wait  until  next  year  for  that," 
said  the  practical  Victoria.  "  Then  we  can  tell 
whether  they  are  going  to  pay  or  not." 

They  discussed  the  matter  for  some  time,  until 
the  gathering  darkness  warned  Victoria  that  it  was 
time  for  her  and  Sophy  to  go  back  to  the  house ; 
and  they  left  the  boys  still  absorbed  in  the  sub- 
ject. 

The  next  day  was  Saturday,  and  it  was  decided 
to  make  use  of  the  holiday  by  arranging  the  mush- 
room bed.  The  boys  followed  closely  the  direc- 
tions for  doing  this,  which  were  given  in  their 
pamphlets ;  but  after  making  the  bed,  they  were 
forced  to  wait  for  a  few  days  before  introducing 
the  seed,  or  spawn,  until  the  temperature  of  the 
bed  should  have  reached  the  proper  degree.  This 


128  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

they  were  to  discover  by  means  of  the  ground 
thermometer  which  Peter  had  purchased. 

The  day  being  Saturday,  Victoria  was  free  to 
go  to  Boston  to  call  upon  her  aunt.  The  girls  had 
further  discussed  the  matter  the  evening  before, 
and  had  decided  that  Victoria's  plan  must  be 
followed,  if  they  wished  to  avert  the  ruin  which 
seemed  to  be  staring  them  in  the  face.  If  Aunt 
Sophia  declined  to  buy  the  pictures  which  they 
had  determined  to  sell,  they  must  be  disposed  of 
in  some  other  way.  Victoria  had  a  private  plan  of 
her  own  for  raising  some  ready  money,  but  of  this 
she  had  said  nothing  to  her  sisters. 

She  went  to  Boston  in  one  of  the  early  trains 
with  a  large  flat  package  under  her  arm,  and  a 
small  but  heavy  one  in  her  pocket.  The  day  was 
a  fine  one,  and  the  streets  were  filled  with  Christ- 
mas shoppers,  the  stores  being  already  crowded, 
early  in  the  morning  though  it  was. 

Victoria  walked  quickly  from  the  station  to  her 
aunt's  house.  The  world  seemed  very  bright  this 
morning,  even  though  bills  were  unpaid  and  pros- 
pects dreary.  As  the  young  girl  hurried  along, 
one  might  easily  have  imagined  from  her  happy 
face  and  her  well-dressed  figure  that  she  was  in 


VICTORIA    GOES  IN  SEARCH  OF  FUNDS.  129 

the  most  comfortable  circumstances  possible,  and 
that  her  package  was  a  Christmas  present  which 
she  had  purchased,  instead  of  being  four  of  her 
father's  precious  etchings  with  which  the  sisters, 
after  much  hesitation  and  disinclination,  had  de- 
cided to  part. 

"  I  wonder  what  kind  of  a  person  I  am,"  thought 
Victoria  as  she  walked.  "  I  wonder  what  sort  of 
a  character  I  really  have.  I  don't  seem  to  get  as 
gloomy  as  Honor  or  as  furious  as  Katherine 
over  being  poor.  Does  it  mean  that  I  don't  real- 
ize as  they  do  how  very  bad  things  are?  It 
always  seems  as  if  there  must  be  some  way  out, 
no  matter  how  gloomy  and  awful  things  may 
look.  Perhaps  I'm  rather  shallow  and  can't  grasp 
the  situation.  Some  day  when  I  have  time  I  am 
going  to  sit  down  and  study  my  own  nature,  but 
there  are  ever  so  many  things  that  must  be  done 
first.  And  after  all,  it  doesn't  seem  worth  while 
to  waste  time  over  that.  I  might  find  out  that  I 
was  absolutely  worthless,  and  that  would  be  so 
discouraging.  I  suppose  a  great  many  people 
would  say  that  I  ought  to  examine  myself  more, 
and  correct  my  faults,  and  all  that,  and  I  suppose 
I  ought ;  but  if  I  did  I  know  I  should  get  de- 


130  A   SUCCESSFUL   VENTURE. 

pressed,  and  it  really  seems  as  if  one  of  us  should 
try  to  keep  bright  and  cheerful,  and  I  seem  to  be 
the  one  that  it  comes  easiest  to.  I  wish  I  had 
some  one  to  ask  about  such  things — a  mother,  for 
instance.  Holloa,  here  I  am  at  Aunt  Sophia's 
already.  I  hope  she  is  at  home." 

But  inquiry  proved  that  already  Mrs.  Went- 
worth  Ward  had  gone  out.  She  would  not  re- 
turn until  five  o'clock  that  afternoon,  the  maid 
said.  She  had  gone  to  Providence  to  attend  a 
meeting.  Would  not  Miss  Victoria  come  in  and 
rest  a  bit? 

But  Victoria  declined  the  invitation.  She  had 
quickly  determined  to  put  her  other  plans  into 
action,  and  no  time  should  be  lost. 

It  did  not  take  long  to  reach  a  certain  silver- 
smith's of  whom  she  had  heard,  and  whom  she 
knew  to  be  honest,  although  his  shop  was  neither 
large  nor  fashionable.  Fortunately  no  customers 
were  in  the  store,  and  the  proprietor  could  attend 
to  her  himself.  She  produced  the  small  heavy 
package  from  her  pocket,  and  proceeded  to  untie 
it.  In  it  were  a  pair  of  old-fashioned  gold  ear- 
rings, a  watch  and  chain,  and  one  or  two  chased 
rings.  These  articles  had  been  left  to  Victoria 


VICTORIA    GOES  IN  SEARCH   OF  FUNDS.  131 

by  the  will  of  her  grandmother.  The  watch, 
which  was  very  old,  and  had  long  since  ceased 
to  go,  was  of  no  great  value  as  a  timepiece,  she 
supposed. 

"  I  want  to  sell  these  things,"  said  she,  bravely. 
"Will  you  buy  them?" 

The  old  man,  who  had  kind  eyes,  Victoria 
thought,  looked  at  them  critically.  Then  he 
glanced  benignly  at  the  owner  of  the  trinkets. 

"  Do  you  really  want  to  sell  them  ? "  said  he. 

"  Yes,  I  really  do,"  returned  Victoria.  "  I  need 
the  money.  How  much  will  you  give  me  for 
them?" 

"  I  can't  tell  that  until  I've  taken  them  apart 
and  weighed  the  gold.  Come  back  next  week, 
and  I'll  tell  you." 

"  Next  week !  "  cried  Victoria.  "  Oh,  can't  you 
do  it  now?  I  do  want  to  take  the  money  home 
to-day." 

"  And  ain't  you  going  to  buy  Christmas  pres- 
ents with  it  ? "  asked  the  old  man. 

"  No  indeed,  I'm  not.  We  really  need  the 
money.  Couldn't  you  tell  me  if  I  were  to  come 
back  this  afternoon?  At  three  o'clock,  for  in- 
stance ? " 


132  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"Very  well.  Come  in  at  three,  and  I'll  try  to 
have  them  weighed  before  that.  These  earrings 
are  hollow,  I  guess,  and  there  ain't  so  very  much 
gold  in  this  open-faced  watch.  Here's  a  receipt." 

He  scrawled  something  on  a  bit  of  paper  which 
he  gave  to  Victoria,  and  she  thanked  him  and  left 
the  shop.  She  then  took  her  way  to  a  picture 
store.  It  was  a  large  one  that  was  much  fre- 
quented, and  it  required  some  determination  on  her 
part  to  go  in  and  display  her  wares.  The  clerks 
were  such  fashionably  dressed  young  men  that  she 
felt  somewhat  in  awe  of  them,  and  they  all  ap- 
peared to  be  so  busy  that  it  was  long  before  she 
was  noticed  at  all. 

At  last,  however,  one  of  them  stepped  up  to  her 
and  asked  her  what  she  wished.  For  a  moment 
Victoria  could  not  find  her  voice,  and  when  she 
finally  spoke  it  was  so  low  and  trembling  that  the 
clerk  could  not  understand  her. 

"  You  wish  to  look  at  etchings  ? "  said  he. 
"  Right  over  here,  please.  Summers,  show  this 
young  lady  some  etchings.  I  have  another  cus- 
tomer." And  he  turned  to  a  gentleman  who  was 
looking  at  some  pictures  with  the  air  of  intending 
to  buy  one  if  not  more. 


VICTORIA    GOES  IN  SEARCH  OF  FUNDS.  133 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  Victoria.  "  You  have  made'  a 
mistake.  I  don't  want  to  look  at  etchings.  I  want 
to  sell  those  I  have  here.  I  thought  that  —  that 
perhaps  —  you  would  buy  them." 

Her  voice  was  now  perfectly  audible.  In  her 
effort  to  make  herself  understood  it  reached  farther 
than  she  intended.  The  two  clerks  and  the  gentle- 
man who  stood  there  all  turned  and  looked  at  Vic- 
toria, and  she  with  her  package  under  her  arm  felt 
as  though  she  should  like  to  sink  through  the  floor 
and  disappear  forever  from  their  sight. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

UNEXPECTED    GENEROSITY. 

OUT  this  was  tip  time  in  which  to  give  way  to 
embarrassment.  Having  undertaken  the  ex- 
pedition in  search  of  funds,  Victoria  felt  that  she 
must  carry  it  bravely  through,  come  what  would. 
With  fingers  that  trembled  conspicuously  she 
untied  the  cord  and  removed  the  wrappings,  and 
presently  disclosed  to  the  view  of  the  three  men 
four  etchings  of  such  rare  merit  that  they  exclaimed 
with  admiration. 

"  Ah,  artist's  proofs ! "  said  the  gentleman  who 
had  been  looking  at  pictures.  "And  a  signature 
worth  having,"  he  added,  as  he  glanced  at  the  name 
written  beneath  the  etching  he  held  in  his  hand. 
"  May  I  ask  what  the  price  of  this  one  is  ? " 

"I  —  I  don't  exactly  know,"  faltered  Victoria. 
"  I  thought  they  could  tell  me  here  what  they  are 
worth.  You  see  my  father  bought  them  and  —  " 

She  stopped  abruptly.  She  did  not  wish  to  take 
these  strangers  into  her  confidence,  but  the  three 

134 


UNEXPECTED    GENEROSITY.  135 

men  saw  her  black  dress  and  imagined  the  rest. 
And  yet  she  did  not  look  as  if  she  were  in  need  of 
money. 

"  I  should  think  they  were  worth  twenty-five 
dollars  apiece,  should  not  you  ? "  said  the  gentle- 
man, turning  to  the  clerks. 

They  were  unwilling  to  mention  any  price,  and 
one  of  them  went  in  search  of  the  owner  of  the 
store.  Victoria  could  scarcely  repress  a  little  gasp 
of  surprise.  She  had  no  idea  that  the  pictures 
were  worth  so  much,  for  they  were  small  ones.  If 
she  succeeded  in  selling  all  of  them  in  addition  to 
the  gold  which  she  had  left  with  the  jeweller,  she 
would  go  home  with  a  large  fortune  in  her 
pocket,  and  the  unpaid  bills  could  be  settled  at 
once. 

She  glanced  at  the  young  man,  who  appeared  to 
be  absorbed  in  examination  of  the  etchings  while 
he  waited  to  hear  their  value.  He  was  very  tall 
and  slight,  with  straight  features,  and  neither  beard 
nor  moustache,  which  made  him  look  younger  than 
perhaps  he  really  was.  Victoria  decided  that  he 
was  nice  looking,  and  was  probably  about  twenty- 
five.  He  seemed  to  be  well  known  at  the  shop,  for 
the  clerks  treated  him  with  marked  attention  and 


136  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

called  him  by  name,  but  Victoria  could  not  hear  it 
distinctly  enough  to  know  what  it  was. 

Again  she  told  herself  that  he  was  very  nice 
looking,  and  that  he  had  the  most  charming 
manners  she  had  ever  seen,  though  perhaps  she 
was  influenced  by  his  interest  in  her  pictures 
and  his  evident  desire  to  buy  one.  Presently  the 
picture-dealer  himself  came  forward  and  examined 
critically  the  four  etchings. 

"  They  are  genuine  artist's  proofs,"  said  he,  "  and 
I  shall  try  to  sell  them  myself  at  twenty  dollars 
each.  Probably  they  cost  more  than  that,  but  in 
the  present  state  of  business  they  will  not  bring 
as  much  as  they  did.  I  will  give  you  fifteen  apiece 
for  them  and  take  the  four." 

"  And  I  will  give  you  twenty-five  for  this  one," 
said  the  young  man,  holding  up  the  one  that  he 
had  first  looked  at.  "  It  is  a  gem,  and  I  will  get 
you  to  frame  it  for  me,"  he  added,  turning  to  the 
dealer.  "  Do  it  for  me  as  soon  as  you  can,  for  I 
want  to  give  it  away  for  a  Christmas  present." 

He  took  out  a  roll  of  bills  from  his  pocket,  and 
counting  out  twenty-five  dollars  he  handed  the 
money  to  Victoria,  taking  off  his  hat  as  he  did 
so. 


IT  IS  A  GEM.' 


UNEXPECTED    GENEROSITY.  137 

"  Thank  you  very  much  for  giving  me  the  oppor- 
tunity of  securing  such  a  prize,"  he  said. 

Victoria  hesitated  and  blushed  scarlet. 

"I  don't  exactly  like  to  take  it,"  she  said  simply ; 
as  she  looked  up  at  him.  "  You  are  giving  me 
too  much.  You  could  buy  it  of  the  shop  for 
twenty  dollars.  Please  don't  give  me  more  than 
that." 

"  I  prefer  to  pay  five  dollars  more  for  the  privi- 
lege of  —  of  having  first  choice,"  he  said,  abruptly 
changing  the  termination  of  his  sentence. 

Victoria  said  no  more,  but  took  the  money,  and 
at  the  same  time  one  of  the  clerks  brought  her 
forty-five  dollars  for  the  remaining  three.  She 
thanked  them  all  and  hurried  from  the  shop. 

"  Rather  an  odd  case,"  said  the  picture-dealer 
to  the  young  man.  "  The  man  who  bought  those 
etchings  in  the  first  place  knew  what  he  was 
about.  I  daresay  I  shan't  sell  them,  but  I  didn't 
want  to  let  such  good  things  go;  and  besides,  she 
seemed  like  a  nice  little  girl.  I  have  a  daughter 
just  about  her  age  and  —  well,  no  matter.  Now, 
sir,  what  kind  of  a  frame  do  you  wish,  and  how 
about  those  other  pictures  you  were  looking  at  ? " 

The  young  man  turned   to  look  at  samples  of 


138  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

frames,  but  his  mind  was  more  occupied  with  the 
incident  which  had  just  taken  place  than  with  his 
purchases.  He,  too,  felt  sorry  for  the  girl.  She 
was  unmistakably  a  lady,  and  it  must  have  been 
a  trying  position  for  her.  He  would  not  care  to 
have  his  sister  in  such  a  predicament,  he  said  to 
himself. 

He  was  a  man  of  somewhat  old-fashioned  no- 
tions, one  who  believed  that  the  men  of  the  family 
should  take  care  of  the  women.  He  wondered  if 
there  was  no  one  to  look  out  for  this  young  girl, 
who  seemed  to  be  not  more  than  fifteen,  —  no 
older  person  who  could  have  come  with  her. 
Then  dismissing  the  subject  from  his  thoughts 
for  the  time  being,  he  devoted  his  whole  atten- 
tion to  the  choice  of  a  frame. 

Victoria,  when  she  left  the  shop,  felt  that  all 
their  difficulties  were  at  an  end.  She  had  a  roll 
of  bills  in  her  pocket,  —  she  put  her  hand  in 
more  than  once  as  she  walked,  to  make  sure  that 
the  money  was  safe,  —  and  if  all  went  as  smoothly 
as  she  hoped,  she  would  have  more  before  the 
day  was  over.  She  had  left  home  that  morning 
with  her  railroad  ticket  and  twenty-five  cents  for 
emergencies ;  she  expected  to  return  in  affluence, 


UNEXPECTED   GENEROSITY.  139 

and  it  had  all  been  done  without  the  interven- 
tion of  Aunt  Sophia.  How  fortunate  it  was  that 
Aunt  Sophia  had  elected  to  go  to  Providence  on 
this  day  of  all  others !  What  would  she  say  to 
such  a  proceeding  if  she  ever  happened  to  hear 
of  it? 

Victoria  smiled  to  herself  at  the  idea.  Very 
probably  Aunt  Sophia  dealt  at  that  picture  store 
herself.  How  little  the  dealer  suspected  that  she 
was  the  niece  of  Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward  of  Bea- 
con Street,  —  or  the  young  man  who  had  given 
her  twenty-five  dollars.  Then  in  a  flash  the  other 
side  of  the  occurrence  presented  itself.  Should 
she  have  taken  so  much  from  him  ?  Was  the 
etching  worth  that  much?  Why  should  she  have 
calmly  allowed  herself  to  accept  twenty-five  dol- 
lars from  him  and  only  fifteen  from  the  dealer? 
Had  she  made  herself  an  object  of  charity  ? 

She  had  walked  across  the  Common,  and  was 
about  to  cross  Tremont  Street  when  she  reached 
this  point  in  her  reflections,  and  so  absorbed  was 
she  in  the  subject  that  she  barely  escaped  being 
run  over  by  one  of  the  innumerable  electric  cars 
which  were  passing  in  long  succession,  inter- 
spersed with  dashing  herdics  and  hurrying  cabs. 


140  A   SUCCESSFUL   VENTURE. 

All  the  world  seemed  to  be  in  haste  this  sharp 
winter  morning,  and  a  motorman  shouted  angrily 
to  her  as  she  attempted  to  cross  in  front  of  his 
car. 

She  reached  the  other  side  of  the  street  in  safety, 
and  then  she  wondered  what  she  should  do  next. 
She  had  no  Christmas  shopping  to  consume  her 
time,  for  their  gifts  to  one  another  were  to  be  very 
simple  this  year  and  were  to  be  made  at  home. 
The  stores  on  Temple  Place  were  packed  with 
people,  and  as  she  walked  she  was  jostled  and 
almost  bruised  by  the  inevitable  handbags,  without 
which  Boston  shoppers  are  rarely  seen.  It  was 
now  only  half-past  ten,  and  she  must  stay  in  town 
until  after  three,  the  hour  of  her  appointment  with 
the  jeweller.  She  determined  to  go  back  to  her 
aunt's,  and  remain  there  until  the  afternoon,  and 
there  she  could  think  quietly  of  the  events  of  the 
morning. 

She  did  this,  and  was  shown  by  the  maid  into 
the  library  and  told  to  make  herself  at  home. 
Although  Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward  was  their  own 
aunt,  the  Starrs  had  never  felt  for  her  the  affection 
which  is  so  common  in  that  relationship.  It  had 
always  been  more  or  less  of  an  effort  for  them  to 


UNEXPECTED    GENEROSITY.  141 

go  to  her  house,  and  their  calls  there  were  unmis- 
takably "  duty  visits."  Mrs.  Ward  was  without 
doubt  very  trying  at  times,  and  the  girls  were  in 
her  opinion  absurdly  independent. 

There  were  faults  on  both  sides,  perhaps,  as 
there  usually  are  in  such  cases.  Victoria,  sitting 
in  the  luxurious  library,  thought  it  all  over. 

"  If  Aunt  Sophia  were  only  like  some  aunts,"  she 
said  to  herself,  "  how  nice  it  would  have  been  to 
come  and  live  with  her !  Think  of  this  big  house 
and  no  one  in  it  but  herself;  but  oh,  I  hope  we 
shall  never  have  to  do  it !  I  do  wonder  what  the 
girls  will  say  about  my  sales  this  morning.  I  felt 
exactly  like  a  book  agent  or  a  pedler.  Dear  me, 
I  only  hope  I  shall  never  see  that  young  man 
again !  He  was  just  as  nice  as  he  could  be,  but 
I  don't  want  ever  to  meet  him !  He  really  made 
me  a  present  of  ten  dollars,  you  might  say.  What 
will  Honor  think  of  it  all  ? " 

Three  o'clock  came  at  last,  and  as  the  hands 
of  the  clock  on  the  steeple  of  the  Old  South 
Church  pointed  to  the  hour,  Victoria  entered  the 
shop  where  she  had  left  her  gold  that  morning. 
She  knew  little  of  the  value  of  watches,  but  she 
fancied  that  when  new  they  cost  not  less  than 


142  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

one  hundred  dollars,  and  often  very  much  more ; 
therefore  she  hoped  for  at  least  fifty  for  hers. 
Her  disappointment  was  consequently  very  great 
when  she  learned  that  it  was  worth  exactly  thir- 
teen dollars  and  seventy-five  cents,  while  the  other 
trinkets  would  bring  but  seven  and  a  half. 

"  The  chain  and  the  earrings  are  hollow,"  said 
the  man,  "and  the  works  of  the  watch  are  good 
for  nothing.  You  may  be  glad  to  get  this  much." 

She  thanked  him  and  left  the  store  feeling  some- 
what crestfallen,  although  twenty-one  dollars  and  a 
quarter  made  a  sum  not  to  be  despised. 

The  girls  were  eagerly  awaiting  her  return,  and 
when  she  displayed  her  roll  of  bills  and  informed 
them  that  she  had  brought  them  ninety-one  dollars 
and  twenty-five  cents,  they  could  scarcely  believe 
her.  Honor  looked  grave  over  the  account  of  the 
young  man's  generosity,  as  Victoria  had  supposed 
that  she  would,  and  she  also  expressed  the  hope 
that  they  might  never  see  him  again. 

"  It  would  be  simply  unendurable  to  feel  that 
we  were  under  obligations  to  him,"  said  she ;  "  but 
it  isn't  at  all  likely  that  we  shall  ever  meet  him. 
We  don't  see  many  people  but  those  who  live  in 
Fordham,  and  if  he  lived  anywhere  in  this  neigh- 


UNEXPECTED    GENEROSITY.  143 

borhood,  you  would  have  known  him  by  sight. 
You  are  sure  you  never  saw  him  before,  Vic  ? " 

"  Perfectly  sure.  He  was  probably  some  Boston 
swell,  but  he  was  an  awfully  nice  one,  and  if  it 
were  not  for  that  ten  dollars,  I  should  really  like 
to  know  him." 

"  You  may  as  well  say  if  it  were  not  for  that 
whole  ninety-one  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents," 
said  Honor.  "I  am  glad  enough  to  get  the  money, 
but  I  can't  bear  to  think  of  your  having  to  go  to 
those  shops  by  yourself  and  sell  things.  I  ought 
to  have  gone  with  you,  Vic.  Indeed,  I  ought!  It 
was  very  cowardly  and  selfish  for  me  to  let  you 
go  alone  —  a  young  thing  like  you.  Some  one 
might  have  been  impertinent  to  you,  and  then  I 
should  never  have  forgiven  myself." 

"  Oh,  nonsense,  Honor ! "  laughed  her  young 
sister.  "  You  are  not  so  very  much  older  yourself, 
and  I  went  to  such  respectable  places  that  of 
course  no  one  would  be  impertinent.  And,  be- 
sides, I  wanted  to  surprise  you  about  the  gold. 
I  wanted  to  go  alone." 

But  Honor  shook  her  head.  She  knew  that 
she  had  been  remiss,  and  that  her  father  would 
not  have  approved  of  Victoria's  solitary  expedition. 


144  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

If  the  young  man  whom  she  had  met  was  truly 
a  gentleman,  as  Vic  declared  that  he  was,  what 
could  he  have  thought  of  such  a  proceeding  ?  He 
certainly  must  suppose  that  her  relatives  were  very 
careless  and  very  peculiar  people,  to  say  the  least, 
and  Honor  hoped  with  all  her  heart  that  he  would 
never  cross  her  path  again. 

But  it  was  a  great  source  of  comfort  to  feel  that 
their  bills  could  now  be  paid;  and  the  girls  went 
to  bed  that  night  feeling  comparatively  happy, 
for  the  consciousness  of  their  debts  had  weighed 
upon  them  all.  Katherine  —  though  she  would 
not  acknowledge  it  —  had  felt  particularly  uncom- 
fortable, for  the  unused  typewriter  continued  to 
stare  her  in  the  face.  Now  she  felt  quite  relieved 
about  it,  and  she  had  serious  thoughts  of  running 
into  Boston  Monday  afternoon  to  buy  Christmas 
presents  for  the  family.  It  would  be  such  a  sur- 
prise to  them,  and  she  should  of  course  use  her 
own  money. 

Within  half  an  hour  she  had  fully  made  up  her 
mind  to  do  this,  and  was  already  planning  what 
she  should  bestow  upon  each  one,  when  a  remark 
of  Honor's  warned  her  that  it  would  be  wiser  not 
to  carry  out  her  intentions. 


UNEXPECTED    GENEROSITY.  145 

"  I  hope,"  said  the  eldest  sister,  "  that  we  shall  not 
lose  our  heads  over  our  unexpected  good  fortune. 
We  mustn't  spend  a  bit  more  than  we  can  possibly 
help.  Remember,  we  don't  want  any  more  bills  !  " 

The  winter  days  passed  quickly,  filled  as  they 
were  with  things  of  importance  to  do.  The  first 
planting  of  mushrooms  was  successful ;  and  Peter, 
upon  his  return  from  the  Boston  market,  to  which 
he  took  them,  proudly  added  his  earnings  to  the 
family  purse.  He  pretended  that  he  felt  it  but  a 
small  thing  to  do,  and  that  the  future  would  prove 
that  he  was  considering  deeds  of  far  greater  mo- 
ment than  the  cultivation  of  mushrooms ;  but  in 
reality  he  was  becoming  immensely  interested  in 
the  pursuit. 

Victoria's  violets  bloomed  in  February,  and  they 
also  were  taken  to  Boston,  and  disposed  of  to  a 
florist.  Dave  Carney  attended  to  this  part  of  the 
business  for  her,  and  was  indeed  most  useful  in 
every  way.  The  Starrs  had  never  been  able  to 
discover  anything  about  the  antecedents  of  this 
member  of  the  household,  and  in  fact  they  had 
not  made  any  great  effort  to  do  so.  They  liked 
the  boy,  and  they  found  him  both  obliging  and 
dependable.  Peter  knew  that  he  had  a  brother, 


146  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTUKE. 

for  he  saw  one  day  in  Fordham  a  young  man  who 
so  closely  resembled  Dave  that  he  was  on  the  point 
of  speaking  to  him ;  and  when  he  questioned  Dave 
upon  the  subject,  the  boy  told  him  briefly  that  it 
was  his  brother,  and  that  he  was  a  few  years  older 
than  himself.  He  said  nothing  more,  and  Peter 
did  not  ask  for  further  information,  as  was  char- 
acteristic of  him. 

It  was  a  mild  winter,  and  although  there  were 
frequent  falls  of  snow,  they  were  always  succeeded 
by  days  of  such  springlike  warmth  that  there  was 
neither  sleighing  nor  coasting,  and  scarcely  any 
skating. 

His  sisters  suspected  that  Peter  was  not  par- 
ticularly happy  in  his  school  life,  but  he  did  not 
tell  them  so.  He  was  a  boy  who  did  not  make 
friends  easily,  and  the  mere  knowledge  that  he 
was  looked  upon  as  an  interloper  by  the  boys  at 
the  school  which  he  attended,  drove  him  still 
farther  into  his  shell,  as  it  were.  He  had  little  to 
do  with  them,  and  usually  came  home  as  soon  as 
the  day's  session  was  over. 

Sophy  and  Sirius  together  always  watched 
eagerly  for  his  return,  both  consumed  with  the 
same  hope  and  desire  that  Peter  would  invite 


UNEXPECTED    GENEROSITY.  147 

them  to  join  him  in  whatever  he  intended  to  do 
—  a  hope  which  was  more  apt  to  be  fulfilled  in 
the  case  of  Sirius  than  of  Sophy.  An  eight-year- 
old  sister  is  by  no  means  so  interesting  a  com- 
panion, Peter  thought,  as  an  active  and  particularly 
intelligent  dog. 

There  were  occasions,  however,  when  Sophy  was 
bidden  to  bear  him  company;  and,  on  a  certain 
afternoon,  the  little  girl  was  made  happy  by  the 
announcement  that  Peter  was  going  for  a  walk, 
and  if  she  wanted  to  go,  and  would  promise  not 
to  get  tired,  and  not  to  make  a  fuss  if  they  came 
across  any  muskrats  or  field  mice,  and,  in  fact,  to 
show  no  signs  of  fear  about  anything  which  they 
might  meet,  she  should  be  allowed  to  accompany 
her  brother  and  his  dog. 

Sophy,  transported  with  delight,  and  ready  to 
promise  anything  in  the  way  of  courage,  ran  for 
her  hat  and  jacket  and  quickly  followed  Peter  to 
the  barn,  whither  he  had  gone  to  inspect  the 
mushroom  bed.  It  was  a  mild  day  in  early  spring. 
The  young  leaves  had  just  burst  forth  upon  the 
trees,  and  the  smell  of  earth,  and  the  gentle  mur- 
mur of  the  little  brooks  in  pasture  and  woods, 
and  the  soft  freshness  of  the  breeze,  showed  that 


148  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

another  winter  had  passed.  Many  of  the  birds 
had  returned  to  their  summer  homes  and  were 
busily  engaged  in  nest-building,  and  little  chip- 
munks darted  about  in  a  ceaseless  game  of  tag, 
pausing  for  a  moment  to  peer  inquisitively  at 
Sophy  with  their  bright  eyes,  and  then  vanishing 
from  sight. 

Peter,  having  attended  to  his  affairs  at  the  barn, 
took  his  way  across  the  pasture.  Sirius  scampered 
on  in  advance,  nosing  here  and  there  along  the 
path,  stopping  to  investigate  every  hole  and  bark- 
ing noisily  at  a  gray  squirrel,  which  climbed  the 
trunk  of  a  tree  at  his  approach,  and  then  sat  on 
a  branch  in  safety,  but  extreme  indignation. 

"  Do  squirrels  go  to  sleep  in  winter,  Peter  ? " 
asked  Sophy,  as  she  trudged  along  close  to  his 
side. 

"They  do  usually,  but  it  was  so  warm  this  win- 
ter I  guess  they  didn't  get  so  sound  asleep.  I'll 
tell  you  something,  Soph.  Carney  and  I  both 
think  the  same  thing.  You  know  people  always 
say  that  when  there  are  a  lot  of  nuts,  it  means 
that  we  are  going  to  have  a  cold  winter  and  the 
squirrels  will  have  plenty  to  eat.  Well,  you  know 
there  were  plenty  of  nuts  last  fall,  and  look  at  the 


UNEXPECTED    GENEROSITY. 


149 


winter  we've  had!  As  warm  as  toast.  /  think, 
and  Carney  thinks  so,  too,  that  it  means  a  warm 
winter  to  have  so  many  nuts.  The  squirrels  are 
not  going  to  sleep  so  much,  and  so  they  will  need 
more  food.  And  look  at  last  year ;  scarcely  any 
nuts  in  the  fall  and  an  awfully  cold  winter.  I'm 
going  to  write  to  the  Transcript  about  it  some- 
time, and  see  what  people  say.  Other  people  will 
answer,  and  it  will  be  lots  of  fun.  Sophy,  I'll  tell 
you  something  if  you'll  promise  never  to  tell. 
Will  you?" 

"Do  you  mean  never?" 

"  Yes,  never,  until  I've  done  it.  Then  I'll  tell  it 
myself." 

"All  right,  Peter,  I'll  promise,"  said  the  little 
sister.  The  absence  of  the  front  teeth  made  her 
lisp  slightly,  and  Peter  was  alarmingly  apt  to  make 
fun  of  this  defect  when  she  used  the  letter  "s";  but 
he  was  too  much  engrossed  with  his  subject  at 
present  to  remark  upon  it,  greatly  to  Sophy's 
relief.  A  wave  of  gratification  filled  her  heart, 
both  because  of  this  and  because  her  brother  was 
apparently  about  to  make  a  confidante  of  her. 

"  I'll  promise,"  she  repeated  solemnly.  "  What 
is  it?" 


150  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"When  I  grow  up,"  said  Peter,  "in  a  very  few 
years,  I'm  going  to  write  a  book." 

"  Peter !     A  real  printed  book  ?  " 

"  Of  course,  child.  What  other  kind  of  a  book 
could  it  be?" 

"  And  what  will  it  be  about  ?  A  story  like 
Alice  in  Wonderland  or  Little  Women  ? " 

"  Little  Women !  A  girl's  story !  No  indeed. 
There  won't  be  a  girl  in  the  book,  that  is  one 
thing  certain.  But  it  is  to  be  about  everything 
else.  You  know  I  really  know  a  lot  about  all 
sorts  of  things,  and  I  intend  to  write  about  every- 
thing that  I  know  the  least  thing  about." 

"  Goody  me !  "  exclaimed  the  astonished  Sophy. 
"It  will  be  an  awful  big  book,  Peter!" 

"  Of  course  it  will.  It  will  probably  be  in  a 
great  many  volumes,  all  bound  alike.  It  will  be 
a  regular  Encyclopaedia,  and  people  will  probably 
look  into  it  when  they  want  to  find  out  about 
anything.  I'm  going  to  tell  about  squirrels  and 
birds  and  mushrooms  and  muskrats  and  ants  and 
bees  and  boys'  games  and  schools  —  I'm  going 
to  tell  a  lot  about  schools,  how  to  keep  them, 
and  all  that  —  and  travels  —  I  mean  to  travel  as 
soon  as  I  get  enough  money  and  have  made 


UNEXPECTED    GENEROSITY.  151 

enough  for  you  girls  to  live  on,  and   I  shall  write 
about  every  place   I  visit,  and  oh,  everything!" 

"  I  should  think  you  would  have  a  little  room 
in  so  many  volumes  to  say  something  about  girls," 
murmured  Sophy. 

"  But  what  for  ? "  demanded  Peter.  "  Why 
should  I  waste  my  time  writing  about  them  ? 
You  know  very  well,  Sophy,  that  girls  aren't  at 
all  interesting,  as  ants  or  birds  are,  for  instance. 
You  know  that,  'don't  you  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Sophy,  humbly;  "I  know  that  be- 
cause you  have  often  told  me  so,  but  then,  Peter, 
you  can  talk  to  a  girl,  but  you  can't  talk  to  an 
ant  or  a  bird.  Doesn't  that  make  some  differ- 
ence ? " 

\ 

"  Not  much,"  he  replied.  "  I  would  rather 
watch  a  colony  of  ants  any  day  than  talk  to  a 
girl.  Now  mind,  Sophy,  you  don't  tell  any  one 
about  my  book." 

"  Indeed  I  won't,  Peter,  and  I  think  it's  going 
to  be  a  splendid  book,  even  if  there  are  no  girls 
in  it.  I  wish  it  was  all  made,  though." 

"  So  do  I,"  said  he ;  "  but  it  won't  take  long 
when  I  once  get  started  on  it.  Hark !  What's 
that?" 


A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 


A  strange  wild  cry  rang  through  the  woods. 
Sirius  stopped  short  in  the  path,  with  ears  erect 
and  motionless  tail,  while  Sophy  gave  a  little 
shriek  and  clung  to  her  brother's  arm. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

SOPHY    HAS    AN    ADVENTURE. 


is  it?"  whispered  Sophy.  "Oh,  Peter, 
is  it  a  ghost  ?  " 

"  A  ghost  !  Pooh,  what  nonsense  !  I'll  never 
bring  you  again,  Sophy.  You  promised  you 
wouldn't  be  afraid  of  anything." 

"  Oh,  but,  Peter,  that  was  such  a  queer  noise, 
and  so  dreadful  !  If  you  could  only  tell  me  what 
it  was!" 

"  An  owl,  very  likely.  Sometimes  they  make 
queer  noises  like  that.  Let's  try  to  find  it.  Sik 
'em,  Sirius,  sik  'em,  sir  !  "  And  disengaging  him- 
self from  Sophy's  detaining  hand  he  and  the  dog 
dashed  into  a  by-path  and  disappeared  from  sight. 

Sophy  tried  to  follow,  but  there  were  many  inter- 
secting paths  or  tracks  in  this  part-  of  the  woods, 
and  she  was  not  in  the  least  sure  which  one  her 
brother  had  taken.  She  ran  along  one,  only  to 
find  that  it  was  rendered  impassable  by  some 
brambles,  so  she  turned  and  went  back  to  her 

153 


154  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

starting-point  to  try  another.  She  hoped  that  she 
should  not  again  hear  that  terrible  cry.  It  might 
be  an  owl,  as  Peter  had  suggested,  but  then  again 
it  might  not.  Peter  did  not  really  know  for  a 
certainty  what  it  was.  And  then,  as  suddenly  as  it 
had  come  before,  rang  out  once  more  this  unearthly 
shriek.  Sophy  covered  her  face  with  her  hands  for 
an  instant.  Then,  indifferent  as  to  what  might  be- 
come of  her  if  only  she  could  get  as  far  as  possible 
from  this  terrible  creature,  whatever  it  might  be, 
she  fled  in  the  opposite  direction  to  that  from 
which  the  sound  appeared  to  come. 

Peter  and  Sirius  pursued  their  way  with  unerring 
instinct  to  a  large  tree,  upon  the  unleaved  branch 
of  which  sat  an  immense  owl.  What  had  at  first 
disturbed  it  Peter  could  not  guess,  but  at  his  ap- 
proach the  owl  gave  another  cry  and  then,  spread- 
ing its  wings,  flew  aimlessly  away  into  the  deeper 
woods,  flapping  blindly  among  the  trees  as  it 
went. 

It  was  unusual  to  see  an  owl  so  active  in  the  day- 
time, and  Peter,  his  naturalist's  nature  all  alive,  fol- 
lowed closely,  anxious  to  see  what  would  happen 
next.  He  stopped  long  enough,  however,  to  try  to 
discover  what  had  frightened  the  bird,  but  could 


SOPHY  HAS  AN  ADVENTURE.  155 

find  nothing.  Then  he  concluded  that  the  enemy, 
whatever  it  was,  must  have  disappeared. 

It  was  a  great  horned  owl,  he  was  almost  sure, 
and  he  knew  that  one  of  that  species  was  rarely 
seen  so  near  civilization.  He  followed  it  as  closely 
as  possible,  but  during  his  short  stop  to  look  for 
the  cause  of  its  fright  the  owl  had  disappeared,  and 
Peter  did  not  see  it  again.  After  spending  some 
time  in  a  fruitless  search  for  it,  he  returned  to  the 
edge  of  the  wood,  supposing  that  he  should  find 
Sophy  where  he  had  left  her;  but  his  thoughts 
were  now  distracted  by  something  else. 

The  excited  barking  of  Sirius  proved  that  he 
had  come  upon  prey  of  some  sort,  and  sure  enough, 
when  Peter  reached  the  dog  he  saw  that  he  had 
discovered  the  entrance  to  a  nest  of  field  mice 
beneath  an  old  log,  and  already  he  had  killed  one 
of  the  parents.  Peter  hoped  to  be  in  time  to  save 
the  other,  but  he  was  not,  and  scarcely  liked  to 
scold  Sirius  for  the  double  murder,  for  he  knew  the 
dog  was  only  following  the  instincts  of  his  kind. 
He  determined  to  secure  the  young  ones,  however, 
if  young  ones  there  were. 

He  turned  over  the  log,  and  there  beneath  it  he 
found  a  neatly  made  nest  of  long  grasses,  built 


156  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

between  the  detached  bark  and  the  log  itself,  and 
containing  a  number  of  tiny  baby-mice.  They 
were  orphans  now,  alas !  the  father  and  mother 
having  both  been  killed  by  Sirius,  but  Peter  de- 
termined that  the  little  ones  should  not  suffer  for 
this  misfortune.  Carefully  removing  the  nest  from 
its  resting-place,  he  laid  it  in  his  cap  and  started 
for  home.  He  would  have  liked  to  examine  the 
log  further,  for  it  seemed  to  be  an  interesting  place. 
A  colony  of  large  black  ants,  which  had  fashioned 
for  themselves  a  most  elaborate  dwelling,  were  run- 
ning about  now  in  a  distracted  manner,  owing  to 
the  sudden  upheaval  of  the  log,  which  had  probably 
been  their  undisturbed  home  for  a  long  time ;  and 
Peter  would  have  been  glad  to  watch  them. 

But  from  the  way  in  which  Sirius  was  bark- 
ing and  sniffing  at  a  hole  in  the  log,  Peter  was 
led  to  suspect  that  another  nest  of  mice  might 
be  there,  and  rather  than  have  that  family  also 
broken  up,  and  because  he  had  no  way  of  dis- 
posing of  the  little  creatures  in  his  cap,  he  hur- 
ried away  from  the  fascinating  scene,  calling  to 
the  dog  to  follow. 

He  took  a  short  cut  across  the  woody  pasture, 
which  lay  on  the  outskirts  of  the  thicker  woods, 


SOPHY  HAS  AN  ADVENTURE.  157 

his  mind  so  absorbed  with  the  adventure,  that 
there  was  no  room  for  thought  of  Sophy.  He 
had  forgotten  her  as  completely  as  though  she 
did  not  exist. 

Then,  too,  to  his  delight  and  surprise,  he  came 
across  some  fungi.  They  were  growing  in  a 
grassy  place  at  the  border  of  the  field,  and  just 
above  the  river.  It  seemed  very  early  in  the 
season  for  mushrooms,  but  still  these  might  be 
of  an  edible  variety,  and  if  they  were,  would  it' 
not  be  an  excellent  plan  to  take  them  home  for 
supper?  The  family  refrained  always  from  eat- 
ing the  cultivated  mushrooms  which  Peter  could 
sell,  but  if  they  were  beginning  already  to  grow 
wild,  they  surely  might  be  indulged  in. 

Peter  placed  his  cap  on  the  top  of  a  rock, 
which  was  too  high  and  too  steep  for  Sirius  to 
scale,  and  proceeded  to  test  the  fungi.  Were 
they  edible  or  not?  Unfortunately  they  were 
not,  as  he  soon  discovered  by  bruising  the  gills. 
A  white  milk  exuded,  and  his  reading  had 
taught  Peter  that  such  were  to  be  avoided. 
Greatly  disappointed,  he  picked  up  his  capful  of 
mice  once  more  and  continued  on  his  way. 

Arrived    at   the    barn,    he   made    the    little    or- 


158  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

phans  as  comfortable  as  possible  in  a  place 
which  was  quite  protected  from  an  attack  by 
Sirius.  He  looked  for  Carney,  but  the  boy  was 
not  to  be  found.  Victoria,  however,  was  busy 
with  her  violets,  and  Peter  consulted  with  her 
as  to  the  best  method  of  disposing  of  his  new 
pets. 

"  Dear  me ! "  exclaimed  Victoria,  when  he 
showed  them  to  her.  "  They  are  the  cunningest 
things  I  ever  saw,  but  you  are  not  going  to  keep 
them,  are  you,  Peter?  Why  not  set  them  free?" 

"  Vic,  you  must  be  perfectly  crazy,"  said  Peter. 
"  Set  them  free,  these  poor  little  things  without 
any  father  or  mother?  They  would  be  eaten 
right  up  by  something.  I  had  no  idea  you  were 
so  cruel.  I  am  going  to  keep  them  until  they're 
old  enough  to  look  out  for  themselves,  and  then 
I'll  take  them  out  to  the  pasture  and  let  them 
go,  if  they  want  to." 

"  I  don't  know  what  Katherine  will  say,  she 
hates  mice  so." 

"Katherine  needn't  know  anything  about  them. 
She  never  comes  near  the  barn." 

"  Do  you  know  where  Sophy  is  ? "  Victoria 
called  after  him  as  he  walked  off,  but  Peter  did 


SOPHY  HAS  AN  ADVENTURE.  159 

not  hear  her.  He  had  placed  his  new  pets  as 
comfortably  as  possible,  and  now  he  hastened 
back  to  the  fascinating  log,  a  good  mile  away 
though  it  was. 

Sirius  accompanied  him,  but  was  ordered  to 
remain  at  a  safe  distance,  lest  the  other  families 
of  mice  should  be  disturbed,  and  the  dog  was 
forced  to  content  himself  with  digging  a  hole 
and  burrowing  so  deep  after  imaginary  prey,  that 
nothing  could  be  seen  but  a  wagging  tail  above 
the  ground. 

Peter  remained  there  until  almost  dark,  watch- 
ing the  ants,  which  had  apparently  recovered 
from  the  shock  of  the  disturbance,  and  were  try- 
ing now  to  make  themselves  as  comfortable  as 
possible  after  the  fright.  Some  were  carrying 
the  eggs  to  a  more  retired  place  than  that  in 
which  they  were,  now  that  the  log  had  been 
turned  upon  another  side,  while  others  were  en- 
gaged in  repairing  the  injured  passage-ways  of 
their  dwelling. 

At  last  the  pangs  of  hunger  warned  Peter  that  it 
must  be  nearly  supper  time,  and  he  again  went 
home,  Sirius  following,  covered  with  brown  earth, 
but  happy  as  a  king,  even  though  his  search  under- 


160  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

ground  had  failed  to  bring  anything  to  light  that 
was  desirable. 

When  Peter  reached  home,  his  three  elder  sisters 
came  hurrying  to  meet  him. 

"  Where  is  Sophy  ? "  they  cried  with  one  voice. 
"  What  have  you  done  with  her  ?  " 

Peter  stopped  short  in  his  walk  across  the  grass. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  he,  a  sudden  dismay  striking 
him  as  he  spoke.  "  Didn't  she  come  home  ?  " 

"  No !  We  haven't  seen  her  since  she  went  with 
you.  Oh,  Peter,  where  is  the  child  ?  " 

Sophy  in  the  meantime  had  wandered  far  into 
the  woods.  In  her  desire  to  escape  from  the  creat- 
ure, whoever  or  whatever  it  might  be,  that  had  so 
frightened  her,  she  paid  no  heed  to  her  where- 
abouts. Blindly  she  ran  on,  stumbling,  falling,  and 
picking  herself  up  again  only  to  run  and  fall  once 
more.  These  woods  were  not  very  extensive,  but 
the  paths  in  them  were  many  and  were  confusing, 
and  Sophy  without  being  in  the  least  aware  of  it 
went  around  and  around  in  a  complete  circle  more 
than  once. 

At  one  time  she  was  very  near  the  road,  and  had 
a  carriage  chanced  to  pass  at  that  moment  she 


SOPHY  HAS  AN  ADVENTURE.  1 6 1 

would  have  heard  it  and  would  have  discovered 
where  she  was,  and  could  then  have  easily  made 
her  way  home  by  the  road ;  but  there  was  no  sound 
but  the  chirping  and  twittering  of  the  newly  ar- 
rived birds  among  the  branches  of  the  tall  trees 
of  this  little  forest. 

When  she  paused  from  sheer  exhaustion,  she 
heard  a  stealthy  rustling  among  the  dead  leaves  and 
the  underbrush,  and  presently  a  snake  emerged, 
raising  its  head  when  it  saw  her,  and  darting  out  its 
forked  tongue  in  anger.  It  was  a  harmless  little 
creature,  and  no  doubt  was  as  anxious  to  escape 
from  this  intruder  as  she  could  be  to  avoid  the 
snake,  but  Sophy  did  not  stop  to  consider  this. 
She  forgot  completely  that  Peter  had  often  told  her 
that  the  snakes  which  frequented  these  woods  and 
meadows  were  not  dangerous,  and  she  fled  precipi- 
tately from  the  spot. 

At  last  her  aimless  wandering  brought  her  to  the 
extreme  edge  of  the  wood  at  the  point  farthest 
away  from  home.  To  her  joy  she  saw  an  open 
space  before  her,  and  actually  a  piece  of  the  sky 
was  visible.  It  was  growing  late  apparently.  The 
shadows  of  evening  had  crept  upon  her  in  the 
woods  without  her  being  conscious  of  them.  Now 


1 62  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

it  seemed  as  if  it  must  be  twilight,  although  it  was 
yet  far  from  being  dark. 

As  she  trudged  along,  too  tired  to  run,  she  fan- 
cied that  she  heard  the  voices  of  men.  She  paused 
for  a  moment,  fearing  new  dangers.  Yes,  some 
men  were  not  far  off,  and  as  they  were  speaking 
some  strange  jargon,  Sophy  suspected  that  they 
were  Italians.  She  was  very  much  afraid  of 
Italians,  with  their  dark  skins  and  fiery  black  eyes. 
There  were  many  at  work  upon  the  railroad,  and 
the  child  would  go  a  long  way  around  to  avoid 
meeting  them  even  in  broad  daylight,  and  when  she 
was  with  some  one  else.  Now  when  she  was  alone, 
and  it  was  almost  dark,  she  was  terrified  indeed. 
The  dangers  of  the  forest  were  as  nothing  to  this. 
She  was  about  to  turn  and  run  back  when  she 
heard  their  voices  growing  fainter.  Apparently 
they  were  leaving  the  spot  for  the  night.  If  she 
waited  long  enough,  she  could  go  home. 

Sophy  thought  that  she  should  feel  safer  if  she 
were  to  say  her  prayers,  so  she  knelt  down  in  the 
dead  leaves  and  repeated  "  Our  Father "  very 
softly,  adding  before  she  rose,  "  And  please,  God, 
take  me  safe  home.  I'm  so  frightened.  For  Jesus 
Christ's  sake,  Amen."  When  she  had  finished  she 


SOPHY  HAS  AN  ADVENTURE.  163 

felt  braver.  It  was  all  very  quiet,  and  the  men  had 
gone.  She  walked  out  of  the  wood  and  found  in 
the  dim  light  a  footpath,  which  she  followed.  It  led 
past  the  base  of  the  embankment  of  the  railroad,  a 
sandy  embankment  which  towered  far  above  her, 
and  she  soon  reached  the  carriage  road  which 
passed  under  the  railroad  at  this  point. 

Sophy  knew  this  road  well,  and  she  knew  that 
by  following  it  towards  the  right  she  should  eventu- 
ally reach  home,  although  it  was  a  long  distance. 
She  wondered  where  Peter  was,  if  he  had  come 
back  to  look  for  her,  if  he  was  in  the  forest  now, 
searching  for  her.  And  the  girls,  what  were  they 
doing?  Were  they  sitting  down  to  supper  now 
without  her?  She  wondered  if  her  silver  mug 
had  been  filled  with  nice  rich  milk  as  usual,  and 
if  there  was  toast  to-night  for  supper.  Perhaps 
Honor  was  cooking  something  on  the  chafing-dish, 
as  she  did  sometimes  by  way  of  a  great  treat. 
Sophy  did  wish  that  she  was  there.  She  was 
so  hungry  and  it  was  so  far!  It  seemed  as  if 
she  must  keep  walking  all  night  in  order  to 
reach  there. 

At  last,  quite  exhausted,  she  sat  down  upon  a 
rock  by  the  roadside.  She  must  rest  for  a  few 


164  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

moments  at  the  foot  of  the  long  hill  which 
loomed  up  before  her.  There  was  a  little  house 
at  the  top,  she  knew,  and  a  short  distance  farther 
on  their  own  place  began,  although  their  house 
was  a  half-mile  beyond.  She  had  just  made  up 
her  mind  to  continue  her  weary  march,  when  she 
saw  two  young  men  or  boys  emerge  from  the 
woods  from  the  other  side  of  the  road  from  those 
in  which  she  had  been.  She  was  sitting  in  the 
shadow  of  some  large  bushes,  and  she  thought 
if  she  kept  very  still  that  they  might  not  notice 
her.  She  scarcely  dared  to  breathe,  but  she  heard 
very  distinctly  the  beating  of  her  heart,  and  the 
sound  frightened  her.  As  the  boys  approached, 
she  heard  one  of  them  say: 

"An'  yer  won't  tell  me  nothin'?  Well,  then, 
yer  don't  git  any  of  the  stuff." 

"  I  don't  want  it,"  replied  the  other,  as  they 
passed  her. 

To  Sophy's  astonishment,  she  recognized  the 
voice  as  that  of  Dave  Carney.  Was  it  —  could 
it  possibly  be  he  ?  She  peered  after  him,  and 
then  springing  to  her  feet  she  ran  as  fast  as  she 
could  up  the  road  in  pursuit. 

"  Dave  !    Dave  !  "    she    cried.     "  Wait    for    me  ! 


SOPHY  HAS  AN  ADVENTURE.  1 6$ 

I'm  lost,  and  I'm  so  glad  to  see  you.  Oh,  so 
glad ! " 

And  then  to  Carney's  astonishment  a  small  hand 
was  thrust  into  his  hand,  and  a  small  and  anxious 
face  was  turned  up  towards  his  face. 

"Why,  where 'd  you  come  from?'\he  asked, 
stopping  abruptly  in  his  walk,  while  his  companion 
uttered  an  exclamation  of  anger. 

"  I  went  to  the  woods  with  Peter,  and  I  got 
lost.  There  was,  a  terrible  scream,  and  it  frightened 
me  dreadfully,  and  I've  been  all  this  time  trying 
to  find  my  way  home.  Oh,  Dave,  I'm  so  glad 
to  see  you ! "  said  the  child,  forgetting  her  fatigue, 
and  dancing  with  glee,  while  she  still  tightly 
grasped  his  hand.  "  You've  no  idea  how  dread- 
ful it  was.  Who  is  that,  Dave  ?  Is  it  your 
brother?  He  looks  just  like  you." 

"  No  matter  who  I  am,"  said  the  stranger, 
roughly.  "  I  ain't  got  no  use  for  yer,  that's  one 
thing,  sure.  Now  just  yer  remember,  Dave !  yer 
can't  work  yer  pious  notions  on  me,  an'  I'll  do 
as  I  like.  I've  been  crooked  a  good  long  time, 
now,  an'  I'll  stay  crooked.  Yer  was  as  crooked 
yerself  once,  an'  I  guess  yer  are  yet,  only  yer 
find  it  don't  pay  just  at  the  present  time.  I'll 


1 66  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

leave  yer  here,"  he  added  with  an  oath,  and 
suddenly  disappeared  among  the  trees  by  the 
roadside. 

"  That  surely  can't  be  your  brother,  Dave,"  said 
Sophy,  disapprovingly.  "  I  don't  like  the  way  he 
talks,  at  all.  I'm  glad  he  went  away.  Oh,  I'm  so 
glad  I  saw  you,  though !  I  don't  feel  half  as  tired 
now." 

Dave  said  little,  —  he  was  a  lad  of  few  words,  — 
but  he  held  the  little  girl's  hand  and  helped  her 
over  the  rough  or  the  steep  places  in  the  road ;  and 
at  last  they  were  in  sight  of  the  house,  and  the  light 
which  shone  from  an  upper  window  seemed  like  a 
beacon  of  hope  to  the  little  wanderer. 

And  presently  she  was  in  the  house,  with  Honor's 
arms  about  her,  and  Katherine  taking  her  hat  and 
coat,  while  Victoria  ran  to  the  barn,  calling  to  Peter 
that  she  was  found.  He  and  Victoria  had  been  to 
the  place  in  the  woods  where  he  had  left  her,  and 
then  had  come  back  to  get  lanterns,  and  to  ask 
some  neighbors  to  join  in  the  search.  The  brother 
and  sisters  had  been  quite  beside  themselves  with 
anxiety,  and  their  joy  and  relief  when  Sophy 
appeared  was  almost  too  great  for  words. 

As  for  Sophy  herself,  she  felt  amply  repaid  for 


SOPHY  HAS  AN  ADVENTURE.  l6/ 

her  fatigue  and  fear  when  she  found  herself  the 
centre  of  importance.  She  was  led  in  state  to 
the  supper  table,  she  was  helped  before  any  of 
the  others  with  the  choicest  viands,  including  an 
egg  which  B.  Lafferty  cooked  in  a  little  dish  espe- 
cially for  her,  and  brought  to  her  with  much 
circumstance,  and,  crowning  feature  of  the  occa- 
sion, a  vase  of  wild  flowers  which  Katherine  had 
gathered  that  afternoon  was  placed  beside  her 
plate. 

When  her  appetite  was  somewhat  appeased, 
Sophy  recounted  her  adventures,  and  even  Peter 
refrained  from  condemning  her  with  cold  criticism, 
when  she  described  her  fear  of  the  snake  which  had 
"  stuck  out  its  tongue  at  her."  In  fact,  she  was  in 
every  sense  of  the  word  the  heroine  of  the  evening, 
and  it  was  so  unusual  an  experience  that  she  could 
not  help  enjoying  it. 

"  I  wonder  where  Dave  had  been,"  remarked 
Honor.  "  It  was  odd  that  he  should  have  come 
along  just  at  the  right  moment  for  you,  Sophy.  I 
am  perfectly  thankful  that  he  did.  Do  you  suppose 
that  was  his  brother,  Peter?" 

"  Don't  know,"  replied  Peter,  as  he  helped  him- 
self to  toast,  and  proceeded  to  butter  it  with  a  lavish 


1 68  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

hand.  "  Carney's  got  a  brother,  only  he  never  says 
much  about  him." 

"  Peter,  it  is  very  bad  form  to  spread  butter  on 
your  bread  or  your  toast  like  that !  "  said  Katherine. 
"  You  ought  to  put  it  on  just  where  you  are  going 
to  eat  it." 

"  Pshaw !  Who  cares  for  form  ?  "  demanded 
Peter,  crunching  his  toast  with  an  air  of  distinct 
enjoyment.  "  What  I  want  is  taste,  not  form,  Miss 
K.  R.  Starr." 

"  It  really  tastes  better  Katherine's  way,"  remarked 
Victoria,  "if  you  have  never  tried  it;  but  don't 
change  on  our  account,  for  the  world  !  By  the 
way,  the  people  are  really  moving  into  the  house 
on  the  hill.  I  saw  some  wagon  loads  of  furniture 
going  up  there  to-day.  I  do  hope  we  shall  like 
them." 

"  I  can't  see  that  it  makes  any  difference  whether 
we  like  them  or  not,"  said  Honor.  "  We  shan't  see 
anything  of  them." 

"  But  why  not,  Honor  ? "  asked  Katherine. 
"  They  are  going  to  be  very  near  neighbors,  and 
I  can't  see  why,  if  they  are  nice  people,  we  shouldn't 
be  neighborly  to  them." 

"  Father  always  liked  us  to  be  neighborly  to  our 


SOPHY  HAS  AN  ADVENTURE.  169 

neighbors,  even  if  he  didn't  go  about  much  himself," 
added  Victoria. 

"  It  was  very  different  then,"  said  Honor.  "  We 
weren't  working  for  our  living.  Those  people,  if 
they  are  rich  and  don't  know  anything  about  us, 
will  probably  look  down  upon  us,  and  I  shall  never 
expose  myself  to  anything  of  that  sort.  No  indeed. 
Let  us  keep  to  ourselves  as  much  as  we  can,  and  to 
the  old  friends  who  know  about  us." 

"  Well,  I  am  interested  in  them  anyhow,"  said 
Victoria.  "  There  are  a  father  and  mother  and 
two  children,  I  believe,  and  the  boy's  name  is 
Roger.  I  hope  it  will  be  some  one  for  Peter.  I 
heard  all  that  from  the  postmistress,  in  case  you 
want  to  know  my  authority." 

"  I  wish  you  wouldn't  gossip  with  the  post- 
mistress, Vic,"  said  Honor,  with  some  severity. 
"  It  seems  to  me  it  is  a  queer  thing  to  do." 

"  But  why  ? "  asked  her  sister,  imperturbably. 
"  She's  known  me  and  I've  known  her  all  my 
life.  Why  shouldn't  we  have  a  little  agreeable 
conversation  together  when  I  go  for  the  letters? 
She  told  me  this  morning  when  she  handed  me 
Aunt  Sophia's  postal  card  saying  she  was  coming 
to  see  us  next  week,  that  she  guessed  —  the  post- 


170  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

mistress  guessed,  I  mean — that  my  Aunt  Ward 
would  be  out  here  before  long.  Now  that  shows 
that  she  is  a  clever  woman,  as  well  as  an  honest 
one,  for  Aunt  Sophia  had  only  signed  her  initials, 
'  S.  S.  W,'  and  yet  she  knew  right  away  who  it 
was  from.  And  it  wasn't  really  necessary  for  her 
to  let  me  know  she  had  read  the  postal  card,  was 
it  ?  So  that  was  very  honest.  Oh,  I  like  her, 
and  she  tells  me  a  lot  I  want  to  know." 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE    NEW    NEIGHBORS    ON    THE    HILL. 

JVARS.  WENTWORTH  WARD,  true  to  the 
word  written  upon  her  postal  card,  appeared 
at  Glen  Arden  early  in  the  ensuing  week.  Upon 
this  occasion  she  made  known  to  her  nieces  her 
intention  of  spending  the  greater  part  of  the  next 
five  months  at  Glen  Arden,  and  naturally  this 
announcement  was  received  with  some  dismay. 

"  You  should  have  some  one  with  you  part  of 
the  year,  at  least,"  said  their  aunt,  "  and  it  suits 
me  to  come  here.  I  had  thought  of  going  abroad 
for  the  summer,  and  of  taking  one  of  you  with 
me,  but  there  are  various  matters  of  importance 
which  must  be  attended  to,  and  which  will  suffer 
frightfully  if  I  am  not  here  to  look  after  them. 
It  is  necessary  for  me  to  be  near  town.  I  shall 
board  with  you,  of  course.  I  may  just  as  well 
pay  the  money  to  you  that  I  should  at  a  hotel  at 
Magnolia  or  Nahant,  and  I  don't  care  for  the 
sea  this  year.  And  I  am  sure  you  must  be  in 

171 


1/2  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

need  of  the  money.  I  can't  imagine  how  you 
manage  to  get  along  on  so  little." 

Honor  ignored  the  close  of  this  speech,  and 
politely  expressed  her  pleasure  at  the  prospect  of 
such  an  extended  visit  from  her  aunt,  though  it 
is  to  be  feared  that  her  tone  was  not  very  hearty. 
She  was  the  only  one  of  the  family  who  could 
see  her,  Katherine  being  in  the  schoolroom,  and 
Victoria  and  Peter  at  school  in  Fordham.  This 
was  one  of  Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward's  customs 
which  her  nieces  considered  most  aggravating. 
She  invariably  came  to  Glen  Arden  during  school 
hours,  and  expected  their  undivided  attention. 

Though  she  paid  close  observance  to  her  own 
engagements,  she  had  small  regard  for  those  of 
other  people,  and  her  nieces'  methods  of  support- 
ing themselves  she  could  never  be  induced  to 
take  seriously. 

"The  first  of  May  will  be  next  Thursday,  a 
week  from  to-day,"  continued  she,  "and  I  shall 
come  on  the  three  o'clock  train.  You  may  give 
me  your  father's  old  room.  It  was  mine  when 
I  lived  here,  you  know,  and  I  like  it." 

"  Yes,"  murmured  Honor,  remembering  that 
Katherine  now  occupied  the  room,  and  wonder- 


THE  NEW  NEIGHBORS   ON  THE  HILL.  1/3 

ing  what  she  would  say  to  being  turned  out. 
"  And  is  there  anything  else  you  would  like, 
Aunt  Sophia?  I  think  perhaps  I  had  better  get 
another  cook,  and  let  B.  Laf — I  mean  Blanch  — 
do  the  upstairs  work.  She  is  not  a  very  superior 
cook,  and  with  such  a  large  family  we  shall  need 
two  servants." 

"  I  will  bring  my  waitress,  Ellen  Higgins,  who 
has  been  with  me  so  long,"  rejoined  Mrs.  Ward, 
briskly.  "  I  intended  to  suggest  it,  and  she  is  an 
excellent  cook  herself,  and  can  give  Blanch  —  ex- 
traordinary name  for  an  Irishwoman,  Honor!  —  she 
can  give  Blanch  lessons  in  cooking.  I  will  also, 
and  there  are  a  number  of  other  things  that  I 
want  to  teach  you.  Therefore  you  may  expect 
me  in  the  3  P.M.  train  on  Thursday,  the  first  day 
of  May.  I  shall  bring  my  own  desk,  and  my 
two  canaries,  my  typewriter,  and  a  number  of 
other  little  things." 

"  We  have  a  typewriter,"  said  Honor,  somewhat 
appalled  by  this  list.  "  Perhaps  you  could  use  it, 
and  not  bring  your  own." 

"  You  have  a  typewriter  ?  Where  did  you  get 
it,  and  whose  is  it  ? " 

"It  is  Katherine's." 


1/4  A   SUCCESSFUL  VENTURE. 

"  Indeed !     And  does  she  use  it  with  ease  ? " 

"  Er  —  not  exactly,"  faltered  Honor,  who  felt  all 
too  surely  that  she  had  made  a  misstep,  and  per- 
haps a  fatal  one.  What  would  their  aunt  say  if 
she  knew  that  they  had  owned  a  typewriter  for 
nearly  six  months,  and  that  not  one  of  them  could 
make  use  of  it?  And  she  would  find  it  out,  she 
surely  would !  Why,  oh  why,  had  Honor  ever 
given  her  this  superfluous  bit  of  information  ? 
Without  it  she  need  never  have  known  that 
there  was  such  a  thing  in  the  house. 

"  Very  well,  then,  I  shall  not  bring  my  own," 
said  Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward,  rising  as  she  spoke. 
"  On  the  contrary,  I  will  engage  Katherine  to  be 
my  secretary,  and  of  course  she  will  prefer  to  use 
her  own  machine  which  she  is  accustomed  to. 
You  tell  her,  will  you,  Honor,  that  I  shall  pay 
her  an  ample  salary.  And  now  good-bye,  my 
dear!  It  will  really  be  very  pleasant  to  be  with 
you  all.  My  love  to  the  others.  I  am  not  going 
to  take  the  train  yet.  The  carriage  that  is  wait- 
ing will  carry  me  down  to  Fordham,  where  I  have 
a  meeting.  Good-bye." 

And  in  a  moment  she  was  gone.  Honor  stood 
on  the  piazza,  looking  at  the  back  of  the  carriage 


THE  NEW  NEIGHBORS   ON   THE  HILL.  175 

as  it  rolled  up  the  avenue.  One  more  week,  and 
then,  good-bye,  indeed !  It  would  be  the  end  of 
their  careless  freedom,  their  independence,  their 
good  times.  For  although  it  had  been  a  sad 
winter  in  many  ways,  although  they  had  missed 
the  dear  father  more  than  words  could  express, 
although  the  question  of  money  had  at  times 
pressed  heavily  upon  them,  yet  in  spite  of  all 
they  had  been  happy  with  one  another,  they  had 
enjoyed  the  sense  of  independence  which  they  had 
gained  from  the  fact  that  they  were  supporting, 
or  trying  to  support,  themselves,  and  there  had 
been  intense  satisfaction  in  the  mere  feeling  that 
they  were  earning  money.  Little  though  it  was, 
it  was  theirs  by  the  right  of  labor,  and  Honor 
was  proud  of  it. 

To  be  sure,  they  should  now  earn  more,  for 
she  knew  that  her  aunt  would  pay  them  gener- 
ously; but  she  saw  an  endless  line  of  small  vexa- 
tions rising  and  stretching  themselves  through 
the  summer,  the  little  trials  that  are  not  much 
in  themselves,  but  which,  when  they  come  in  rapid 
succession,  are  wearing  and  annoying,  to  say  the 
least.  Katherine,  for  one,  would  not  brook  the 
interference  which  was  sure  to  come  from  her 


176  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

aunt.  And  what  would  she  say  to  being  obliged 
to  give  up  her  room,  and  to  being  engaged  as 
secretary  and  typewriter? 

Depressed  and  disturbed  though  she  was  feel- 
ing, Honor  laughed  aloud  at  the  thought  of  the 
wonders  which  Katherine  was  expected  to  per- 
form upon  her  writing-machine.  As  far  as  her 
present  knowledge  went  she  might  just  as  well 
be  required  to  translate  something  from  the  San- 
scrit. 

And  then,  Honor,  after  one  more  look  across 
the  lawn  where  her  father's  dear  trees  were  in 
full  leaf  now,  and  the  grass  was  green,  and  the 
robins  were  hopping  about  in  ecstasy  over  the 
coming  of  spring,  left  the  piazza  and  went  back 
to  the  schoolroom.  She  determined  to  say  noth- 
ing of  these  plans  of  her  Aunt  Sophia's  until 
Victoria  should  come  home.  It  was  curious,  said 
Honor  to  herself,  that  they  were  all  growing  to 
lean  upon  Victoria. 

Therefore,  it  was  not  until  the  afternoon,  when 
they  had  a  few  moments  of  leisure  before  Kather- 
ine should  go  to  one  of  her  music  pupils,  that 
Honor  imparted  to  them  her  dire  intelligence. 

It  had  precisely  the  effect  which  she  had  feared. 


THE  NEW  NEIGHBORS   ON   THE  HILL.  177 

Katherine  flatly  declined  to  give  up  her  room  to 
her  aunt,  and  declared  that  it  was  an  imposition 
to  have  her  come  there  at  all.  She,  for  one,  re- 
fused to  endure  it.  As  to  acting  as  her  secretary, 
it  was  out  of  the  question.  Besides,  she  could  not 
use  the  typewriter.  Why  had  Honor  ever  led 
Aunt  Sophia  to  suppose  that  she  could  ?  Honor 
had  drawn  them  into  this  scrape ;  now  she  must 
get  them  out  of  it.  She  need  not  have  told  Aunt 
Sophia  that  they  owned  a  typewriter. 

Katherine  walked  up  and  down  the  shady  end 
of  the  piazza,  looking  very  tall  and  extremely  angry. 
Indignation  was  written  in  every  line  of  her  beauti- 
ful face.  She  had,  oddly  enough,  the  perfectly 
straight  features  of  the  aunt  whom  she  did  not  par- 
ticularly love;  but  her  eyes  and  hair  were  very 
dark?  and  her  forehead  was  low  and  broad.  It 
would  have  annoyed  her  extremely  to  be  told  that 
she  looked  like  Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward,  who,  never- 
theless, was  a  handsome  woman. 

"  I  see  no  way  out  of  it,"  said  Honor.  She  was 
sitting  in  the  hammock,  and  swung  herself  to  and 
fro  while  she  watched  Katherine's  rapid  movements. 
Victoria  had  perched  herself  upon  the  railing  of 
the  piazza,  and  was  looking  out  across  the  lawn. 


178  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  And,  Katherine,  you  bought  the  typewriter. 
You  are  responsible  for  its  being  in  the  house,  so 
I  really  don't  think  you  ought  to  blame  me  for 
this  complication.  I  know  it  was  foolish  of  me 
ever  to  tell  Aunt  Sophia,  but  I  was  so  taken  aback 
when  I  heard  that  she  was  coming  for  five  months, 
and  was  going  to  bring  all  those  things  with  her, 
including  that  patronizing  Ellen  Higgins,  whom 
I  can't  bear,  that  I  said  the  first  thing  that  came 
into  my  head.  I  thought  if  she  used  ours,  —  yours, 
I  mean,  —  it  would  be  one  thing  less  to  bring  with 
her." 

"  I  don't  see  why  you  took  the  news  so  meek-ly," 
said  Katherine.  "  Why  didn't  you  tell  her  right 
up  and  down  that  she  couldn't  come  ? " 

"  Oh,  of  course  Honor  couldn't  do  that ! "  said 
Victoria.  "  It  would  have  been  very  rude,  and, 
besides,  Katherine,  she  is  our  own  aunt." 

"  Very  well,  then,  you  can  give  up  your  room 
to  her,  and  you  can  be  her  secretary.  It  is  easy 
for  you  to  say  we  ought  to  have  her  here,  for  you 
don't  have  to  do  anything.  I  have  to  give  up  my 
dear  room,  which  I  love  because  it  was  father's, 
and  go  to  that  hot  third-story  one,  I  suppose.  As 
for  the  typewriter,  it  is  simply  out  of  the  question. 


THE  NEW  NEIGHBORS   ON   THE  HILL.  179 

I  can't  use  it,  and  I  won't  learn  to  use  it  just  to 
please  Aunt  Sophia ;  and  if  Honor  is  going  to 
keep  flinging  it  in  my  face,  she  can  keep  on  fling- 
ing, that  is  all.  And  now  it  is  time  for  me  to  go." 

She  picked  up  her  music  case  and  was  soon 
walking  rapidly  away  from  them  across  the  lawn. 

"What  are  we  to  do  about  it?"  sighed  Honor. 
"  I  knew  Katherine  would  be  frantic,  and  I  sup- 
pose it  is  provoking  for  her,  but  I  don't  see  why 
she  need  be  so  furious  with  me." 

"  Oh,  never  mind ! "  said  Victoria,  looking  after 
Katherine's  hurrying  figure.  "  Katherine's  bark 
is  worse  than  her  bite,  you  know,  and  she  will 
probably  have  gotten  over  some  of  it,  before  she 
comes  back.  I  am  sorry  for  her  scholars,  though, 
this  afternoon!  But,  Honor,  I  have  an  idea." 

"  What  is  it,  Vic  ?  If  it  is  a  cheering  one,  as 
I  suppose  it  is,  do  hurry  and  tell  me,  for  I  feel 
bowed  to  the  earth  with  gloom." 

"  I  will  learn  to  use  the  typewriter,  and  I  will 
be  Aunt  Sophia's  secretary  through  the  summer. 
I  have  been  wild  to  try  it,  but  I  have  had  so 
much  to  do,  I  couldn't  I  will  learn  to  use  it 
before  she  comes  and  practise  on  it  in  secret, 
after  she  gets  here,  and  by  the  time  school  is 


180  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

over,  I  shall  be  ready  for  work.  She  can't  expect 
any  of  us  to  do  it  before  June,  while  we  are  so  busy, 
and  we  can  make  Katherine's  music  an  excuse  for 
her  not  to  do  it  at  all.  She  will  have  to  practise 
very  hard  through  the  summer,  we  can  say.  You 
write  a  nice  note  to  Aunt  Sophia  and  tell  her  how 
it  is,  so  that  she  may  be  prepared." 

"Oh,  Vic,  what  a  dear  you  are!  You  do  help 
me  out  of  so  many  difficulties.  Do  you  really 
think,  though,  that  you  can  learn  to  use  it  in  so 
short  a  time  ?  " 

"  Of  course,"  replied  Victoria.  "  One  can  do  any- 
thing one  sets  out  to  do,  if  one  only  tries,  and  I 
mean  to  conquer  that  white  elephant  of  a  type- 
writer, if  only  for  the  sake  of  feeling  that  the  forty 
dollars  wasn't  wasted ;  and  then,  too,  if  Aunt  Sophia 
pays  me  well,  it  will  be  quite  a  nice  sum  for  us  to 
make.  I  will  go  tinker  at  it  now,  for  I  have  a 
little  time,  and  those  books  of  lessons  are  quite  a 
help.  So,  cheer  up,  Honor!  We  may  get  some 
fun  out  of  Aunt  Sophia's  visit,  after  all. 

"'Jog  on,  jog  on  the  footpath  way,'" 

she  hummed,  as  she  went  into  the  house  and 
sought  the  hitherto  neglected  writing-machine. 


THE  NEW  NEIGHBORS   ON   THE  HILL.  l8l 

In  the  meantime,  Katherine  pursued  her  way 
across  the  fields  to  the  village,  where  she  in- 
tended to  take  an  electric  car.  She  was  still 
very  angry  and  greatly  irritated  by  her  late  con- 
versation, and  by  the  prospect  of  five  months  of 
Aunt  Sophia's  uninterrupted  society.  How  hate- 
ful it  was  that  they  were  so  poor  that  they  were 
forced  to  submit  to  the  imposition,  as  she  termed 
it.  If  Aunt  Sophia  were  coming  as  a  visitor,  it 
would  be  different,  but  as  a  boarder  she  would, 
no  doubt,  consider  herself  privileged  to  say  and 
do  exactly  what  she  wished,  and  how  could  she 
be  expected  to  give  up  her  room  to  her?  And 
besides  all  this,  as  Katherine  really  felt  guilty 
about  the  purchase  of  the  typewriter,  every  word 
that  Honor  spoke  upon  the  subject  went  home. 

After  a  while,  however,  her  better  nature  pre- 
vailed. It  was  always  thus  with  Katherine,  as 
her  sisters  knew.  If  sufficient  time  were  given 
her,  she  was  sure  to  come  out  of  her  fits  of 
temper  in  the  sweetest  possible  frame  of  mind, 
so  repentant  for  all  that  she  had  said,  and  so 
desirous  to  atone  for  it,  that  it  was  impossible 
to  help  loving  her  more  than  ever.  On  this  oc- 
casion, before  she  had  reached  Fordham  she  had 


1 82  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

begun  to  be  sorry,  and  by  the  time  she  had 
returned  to  the  village,  after  giving  two  music 
lessons,  she  was  ready  to  do  all  and  more  than 
her  sisters  required  of  her. 

She  left  the  electric  car  at  the  post-office  and 
found  there  several  letters  for  the  family;  and 
then,  the  afternoon  being  so  beautiful,  she  con- 
cluded to  walk  home  by  a  somewhat  indirect 
way,  one  which  led  her  past  the  entrance  to  the 
house  on  the  hill,  as  the  Starrs  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  calling  it.  This  house  was  a  handsome 
one  which  had  been  vacant  for  two  years.  The 
grounds  about  it  were  not  extensive,  but  they  had 
always  been  well  kept  until  the  death  of  the 
owner.  Since  then  they  had  been  somewhat  neg- 
lected ;  but  now  the  place  had  been  rented,  and 
Katherine  was  glad  to  see,  as  she  approached,  that 
men  were  at  work  on  the  lawn  and  on  the  avenue 
which  led  up  a  rather  steep  incline  to  the  house. 

She  paused  for  a  moment  to  watch  them,  and 
then  remembering  that  the  family  were  probably 
already  there,  she  hurried  on,  hoping  that  she  had 
not  been  seen.  She  had  not  gone  more  than  a 
few  yards,  however,  before  she  heard  a  footstep 
behind  and  a  voice  said : 


THE  NEW  NEIGHBORS   ON   THE  HILL.  183 

"  Miss  Starr,  I  beg  your  pardon,  but  is  not  this 
yours  ?  " 

Turning,  Katharine  saw  a  lady,  who  held  towards 
her  a  letter. 

"  Oh,  thank  you  ever  so  much ! "  said  Kather- 
ine.  "  I  slipped  them  into  my  music  case  at  the 
post-office.  I  wonder  if  any  more  have  dropped 
out  ? " 

"  I  think  not,"  said  the  lady,  smiling  in  a 
friendly  way  which  won  Katherine's  heart  upon 
the  spot.  "  I  have  been  behind  you  all  the  way, 
and  this  did  not  fall  until  just  as  you  reached 
our  place.  I  couldn't  help  seeing  the  address  on 
it,  and  so  I  knew  you  were  one  of  the  Miss 
Starrs,  whom  we  have  heard  so  much  about  and 
are  so  anxious  to  meet.  I  hope  you  are  going  to 
be  very  neighborly." 

"  Yes,  indeed !  "  said  Katherine,  cordially.  She 
was  charmed  with  the  lady's  manner,  and  quite 
forgot  Honor's  intention  to  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  newcomers.  "  We  will  come  and  call 
upon  you  very  soon.  You  are  Mrs.  Madison,  I 
suppose." 

"  Not  Mrs.,  but  Miss,"  corrected  her  new  friend, 
again  with  the  lovely  smile  that  had  so  attracted 


184  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

the  young  girl.  She  was  a  beautiful  woman,  with 
fair  hair  and  eyes  of  deep  blue,  and  there  was 
that  in  her  face  which  won  Katherine's  love  at 
first  sight.  She  felt  that  she  had  found  a  friend, 
and,  with  all  the  enthusiasm  of  her  young  and 
ardent  nature,  she  loved  her  before  she  knew  her. 

"  My  name  is  Margaret  Madison.  I  think  you 
must  be  the  musical  one,  as  you  have  a  familiar- 
looking  roll  in  your  hand.  You  must  come  and 
see  my  music-room.  I  play  the  violin  myself, 
and  I  should  so  much  enjoy  playing  with  you." 

Katherine's  dark  eyes  grew  round  with  excite- 
ment and  the  color  deepened  in  her  face. 

"  The  violin  !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  And  you  want 
me  to  accompany  you?  How  perfectly  lovely  it 
will  be!" 

"  We  shall  have  some  good  music,"  said  Miss 
Madison;  "you  on  the  piano,  and  I  on  the  violin. 
And  my  brother  sings  a  little." 

"Oh,  your  brother!"  said  Katherine.  "I'm  so 
glad  you  have  a  brother,  for  we  were  hoping 
that  he  would  do  for  Peter." 

Miss  Madison  looked  somewhat  astonished  at 
this  remark,  but  she  said  nothing. 

"  Peter    is    my    brother,"    continued    Katherine, 


THE  NEW  NEIGHBORS   ON   THE  HILL.  185 

"  and  he  doesn't  care  for  many  boys,  so  I  do 
hope  your  brother  and  he  will  get  on  together. 
We  were  so  glad  when  we  heard  that  another 
boy  was  coming.  My  sisters  and  I  will  call  upon 
you  very  soon.  Good-bye !  " 

She  did  not  notice  that  Miss  Madison  laughed 
outright  as  she  left  her,  so  excited  was  she  at  the 
tempting  prospect  held  out  to  her  of  the  music 
which  was  to  be  enjoyed.  She  hurried  home  to 
tell  her  sisters  of  the  meeting,  and  to  beg  Honor 
to  reconsider  her  determination  to  have  nothing  to 
do  with  the  new  neighbors,  but  to  go  at  once  to 
call,  and  in  the  same  breath  she  assured  them 
that  Aunt  Sophia  could  have  her  room  and  she 
would  try  to  use  the  typewriter. 

She  was  greatly  relieved,  however,  when  her 
sisters  told  her  that  her  last  offer  was  unnecessary. 
Victoria  had  succeeded  so  well  with  her  first  efforts 
that  she  felt  quite  enthusiastic  about  it  and  would 
on  no  account  give  up  the  position  to  Katherine. 

At  first  Honor  would  not  listen  to  the  suggestion 
that  they  should  call  upon  the  Madisons.  It  was 
only  after  much  urging  from  both  Katherine  and 
Victoria  that  she  finally  consented ;  and  then  she 
took  pains  to  make  it  very  clear  to  them  that  she 


1 86  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

would  go  chiefly  and  solely  because  she  wanted 
Peter  to  have  a  companion,  and  as  there  was  a 
brother  there  who  would  no  doubt  be  a  desirable 
boy  for  him  to  know,  it  would  perhaps  prevent 
awkwardness  for  them  to  become  acquainted  with 
the  other  members  of  the  family.  The  next  after- 
noon, therefore,  was  set  apart  for  making  the 
visit. 

This  formality  devolved  naturally  upon  Honor 
and  Katherine,  but  at  the  last  moment  Victoria 
announced  that  she  should  accompany  them,  so 
anxious  was  she  to  see  the  music-room  and  the 
other  interesting  things  which  were  sure  to  be 
there,  as  well  as  the  beautiful  Miss  Madison  herself, 
of  whom  Katherine  had  talked  so  enthusiastically 
ever  since  she  had  met  her  the  day  before. 

The  three  sisters  made  ready  for  their  call,  and 
before  long  were  climbing  the  steep  hill.  They 
were  about  to  ring  the  bell,  when  the  door  was 
opened  for  them  by  Miss  Madison. 

"  I  saw  you  coming,"  she  said,  "  and  I  thought  I 
would  let  you  in  myself.  How  good  of  you  to 
come  so  soon.  I  am  delighted  to  see  you.  Now 
you  must  tell  me  which  is  Honor  and  which  is 
Katherine  and  which  Victoria,"  she  added  as  she 


THE  NEW  NEIGHBORS   ON   THE  HILL.  187 

shook  hands  with  each.  "  You  see  I  know  all  your 
names  though  I  don't  know  you  apart.  Come  into 
the  house,  and  I  will  send  for  my  mother." 

They  went  into  the  parlor,  and  as  they  did  so  a 
gentleman  rose  and  came  forward.  He  was  a  good- 
looking  young  man  with  blue  eyes  like  Miss  Madi- 
son's, though  his  hair  was  darker  than  hers.  Before 
the  girls  had  time  to  wonder  who  he  was  their 
hostess  introduced  him. 

"  This  is  my  brother  Roger,"  said  she.  "  Do  you 
think  he  will  '  do  for  Peter '  ?  "  she  added,  laughing 
as  she  turned  to  Katherine. 

"  Oh,"  exclaimed  Katherine,  wanting  to  laugh 
herself,  but  fearing  that  Honor  would  be  shocked ; 
"  what  must  you  have  thought  of  me  yesterday ! 
We  were  told  that  he  was  a  boy." 

"  So  I  am  in  a  great  many  respects,"  said  Roger 
Madison.  "  I'm  sure  that  I'll  '  do  for  Peter.' " 

In  the  meantime,  what  had  become  of  Victoria  ? 
She  had  paused  for  a  moment  in  the  doorway  and 
then  had  turned  and  disappeared.  Her  one  thought 
was  flight,  and  like  a  flash  she  ran  down  the  avenue 
and  was  lost  to  sight  beneath  the  brow  of  the  hill. 

Miss  Madison's  brother  was  the  man  who  had 
bought  the  etching !  What  would  Honor  say  ? 


CHAPTER   XI. 

VICTORIA    DECIDES    TO    KEEP    IT    SECRET. 

"\  \  T HAT  would  Honor  say  ?  This  was  Victoria's 
chief  thought  as  she  rushed  headlong  down 
the  hill,  not  pausing  until  she  had  reached  the  safe 
shelter  of  their  own  place.  There  beneath  one  of 
the  old  trees  she  found  a  rustic  bench,  and  sinking 
down  upon  it,  quite  breathless  from  her  run,  she 
tried  to  consider  calmly  the  situation. 

What  would  Honor  say?  She  who  had  hoped 
that  they  might  never  see  the  young  man  again 
because  in  her  eyes  the  affair  had  been  so  mortify- 
ing !  And  so  it  had  been,  Victoria  said  to  herself. 
What  would  Mr.  Madison  himself  think  when  he 
learned  that  one  of  his  new  neighbors  was  actually 
the  girl  whom  he  had  encountered  in  a  Boston 
picture  store  peddling  her  wares,  and  of  whom  he 
had  bought  something  purely  as  an  act  of  charity  ? 

Victoria,  looking  back  at  the  occurrence,  felt  per- 
fectly confident  that  it  was  chiefly  owing  to  his 
good  nature  that  he  had  bought  the  etching.  He 

1 83 


'"THERE,  BENEATH  ONE  OF  THE  OLD  TREES,  SHE  FOUND  A  RUSTIC  BENCH. 


VICTORIA   DECIDES    TO  KEEP  IT  SECRET.  189 

was  sorry,  probably,  for  a  girl  who  was  forced  to 
do  such  a  thing,  and  had  given  her  an  extra  five 
or  ten  dollars  merely  out  of  charity.  Victoria 
writhed  in  spirit. 

She  did  not  regret  her  expedition  to  Boston,  for 
they  had  been  in  sore  need  of  the  money,  and  to 
part  with  the  pictures  and  the  jewelry  had  been 
a  perfectly  honorable  means  of  getting  it.  She 
did  not  feel  in  the  least  degree  ashamed  of  hav- 
ing sold  the  etchings,  but  she  was  deeply  morti- 
fied when  she  remembered  that  she  had  allowed 
herself  to  accept  the  higher  price  from  one  who 
was  a  complete  stranger  to  her,  and  one  who  cer- 
tainly did  appear  to  be  sorry  for  her. 

The  Starr  family  pride  —  of  which  this  daughter 
of  the  house  had  no  small  share  —  was  up  in  arms. 
She  felt  that  she  could  never  look  Roger  Madison 
in  the  face.  That  he  would  remember  her  as 
clearly  as  she  remembered  him,  she  had  not  the 
smallest  doubt. 

And  then  again,  what  would  Honor  say?  She 
would  probably  flatly  refuse  to  have  anything  more 
to  do  with  the  Madisons,  which  would  be  unfortu- 
nate, for  Katherine  had  set  her  heart  upon  the 
anticipated  music  that  she  was  to  enjoy  with  Miss 


190  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

Madison.  Katherine  was  of  an  ardent  tempera- 
ment, and  her  likings  were  as  strong  and  un- 
changeable as  her  dislikes.  Already  she  loved 
and  admired  Miss  Madison  with  all  the  enthusi- 
asm at  her  command,  and  it  would  be  a  bitter 
disappointment  to  her  if  Honor  should  decree  that 
the  two  families  were  to  have  no  further  inter- 
course. Indeed,  Katherine  would  in  all  proba- 
bility decline  to  listen  to  Honor,  and  that  would 
make  trouble.  What  should  be  done  to  avert 
these  consequences? 

There  was  but  one  course  to  pursue,  and  that 
was  to  keep  her  family  in  ignorance  of  the  fact 
that  she  had  ever  seen  Roger  Madison  before. 
Victoria  fairly  gasped  as  this  solution  of  the  diffi- 
culty presented  itself.  Could  she  keep  such  a 
secret?  The  sisters  were  in  the  habit  of  talking 
freely  together  and  of  telling  one  another  all  the 
events  both  large  and  small  that  came  into  their 
day.  Not  to  make  known  to  Honor  and  Kath- 
erine the  fact  that  Victoria  had  met  Mr.  Madison 
before,  and  under  the  peculiar  circumstances  which 
had  made  the  incident  a  matter  of  family  history, 
required  some  determination.  It  meant  far  more 
to  her  than  it  would  to  many  another  girl.  To 


VICTORIA  DECIDES    TO  KEEP  IT  SECRET.          19 1 

Victoria  it  seemed  like  an  act  of  deliberate  decep- 
tion, and  she  hesitated  before  taking  the  step. 

"  I  don't  want  to  deceive  them,  I  am  sure,"  she 
said  to  herself,  as  she  sat  under  the  trees  this  beau- 
tiful afternoon  in  the  last  week  of  April,  looking 
with  troubled  eyes  towards  the  house  on  the  hill ; 
"  but  it  does  seem  a  pity  to  deprive  Katherine  of 
the  music,  and  if  Honor  knows  about  it,  she  will 
probably  be  almost  rude  to  the  Madisons,  for  she 
will  be  so  anxious  to  show  her  pride  about  it,  and 
that  seems  a  pity,  for  they  are  so  pleasant  and 
evidently  want  to  be  friendly.  I  can  keep  out  of 
Mr.  Madison's  way,  and  perhaps  it  will  be  a  long 
time  before  he  discovers  me.  I  wish  I  had  some 
older  person  to  ask.  I  wish  I  had  a  mother.  It 
must  be  so  lovely  to  have  one  to  go  to  whenever 
anything  troublesome  comes  up.  I  wonder  if  girls 
who  have  mothers  realize  how  terrible  it  is  not 
to  have  one." 

Victoria's  mind  wandered  from  her  present  anx- 
iety to  the  thought  of  the  mother  who  had  died 
when  Sophy  was  a  baby.  She  had  been  only 
seven  years  old  herself  at  the  time,  but  she  re- 
membered her  perfectly,  and  the  change  which 
it  had  made  in  her  father.  He  had  become  so 


1 92  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

grave  and  quiet  after  that,  and  although  he  was 
always  devoted  to  his  chi-ldren,  he  was  different, 
Honor  always  said,  from  what  he  had  been  before. 
Honor  had  tried  so  faithfully  to  be  a  mother  to  the 
younger  ones,  thought  Victoria. 

"  But  then  Honor  is  really  so  little  older  than  I 
am,  that  sometimes  it  seems  as  if  she  didn't  know  a 
great  deal  more  herself.  If  only  Aunt  Sophia  were 
different!  But  she  would  be  no  help.  No,  I  must 
decide  for  myself  and  —  I  decide  to  keep  it  a  secret  /" 

Victoria  said  the  last  few  words  aloud,  with  slow 
and  deliberate  emphasis.  Then  she  rose. 

"  What  must  they  have  thought  of  me,  running 
away  in  that  style  ?  And  what  shall  I  say  to  the 
girls  ?  I  shall  just  have  to  tell  them  that  I  was 
overwhelmed  with  shyness  just  as  we  were  going 
into  the  room.  They  won't  believe  me,  because  I'm 
not  often  shy,  but  I  am  sure  it  was  the  truth.  I 
was  frightened  to  pieces.  What  a  time  I  shall  have 
making  up  excuses  for  not  going  there,  or  seeing 
Mr.  Madison  if  he  comes  here  —  if  he  comes !  Very 
probably  he  won't.  And  I  must  be  careful  about 
the  trains.  It  would  be  awkward  enough  to  meet 
him  at  our  little  station.  Dear  me,  what  a  summer 
it  is  going  to  be !  Aunt  Sophia  at  Glen  Arden, 


VICTORIA   DECIDES    TO   KEEP  IT  SECRET.  193 

and  the  man  who  bought  the  etching  in  the  house 
on  the  hill ! 

" '  Jog  on,  jog  on  the  footpath  way, 
And  merrily  hent  the  stile  —  a  ! ' 

I  will  divert  my  mind  by  working  in  the  garden  a 
little.  Or  no,  I  will  practise  on  the  typewriter !  If 
I  don't  learn  to  do  it  easily  soon,  Aunt  Sophia  will 
suspect  the  plot.  How  many  secrets  we're  having 
now.  I  don't  mind  having  them  from  Aunt  Sophia, 
but  I  do  hate  to  have  anything  on  my  mind  that 
Honor  and  Katherine  are  not  to  know." 

She  had  not  been  long  at  work  before  she  heard 
footsteps  upon  the  piazza,  and  the  voices  of  her  two 
sisters. 

"  Where  do  you  suppose  Vic  can  be  ? "  Honor 
was  saying.  "  I  really  feel  quite  anxious  about  her. 
Vic,  are  you  here  ? "  she  called,  coming  into  the 
house.  "  Why,  child,  what  happened  to  you  ? 
Here  she  is,  Katherine,  working  on  the  typewriter. 
What  made  you  run  away,  Vic  ?  " 

"  Shy,"  replied  Victoria,  as  she  slowly  fingered 
the  keys. 

"  Nonsense  ! "  said  Katherine.  "  It  was  some- 
thing else,  Vic.  You  never  were  shy  in  your  life." 


194  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  Frightened,  then,"  said  Victoria. 

"Frightened?.    What  at  ?" 

"  Miss  Madison's  big  brother."  Which  was  cer- 
tainly the  truth. 

"  Vic,  how  absurd  !  "  cried  Katherine.  "  He  is 
just  as  nice  as  he  can  be.  Wasn't  it  too  ridiculous 
that  we  should  have  supposed  that  he  was  a  small 
boy  of  Peter's  age  ?  We  had  a  great  laugh  over  it, 
and  I  was  really  glad  that  we  had  made  the  mistake, 
for  it  was  such  a  joke  it  quite  broke  the  ice.  I  feel 
as  if  I  had  known  them  both  for  years,  don't  you, 
Honor?" 

"  Yes,  they  are  very  nice,  both  of  them,"  replied 
her  sister,  "  and  I  am  very  glad,  girls,  that  you  made 
me  go  there  to  call.  After  all,  it  would  have  been 
silly  to  hold  aloof  from  them  just  because  we  are 
poor.  I  don't  think  they  are  at  all  the  kind  to 
look  down  on  us  because  we  are —  " 

"  Of  course  not,"  said  Katherine  with  some  im- 
patience. "  They  are  true  gentle-people,  and  not 
in  the  least  snobbish.  The  mother  is  lovely,  Vic." 

"  Is  she  ?  " 

Victoria  bent  over  her  machine,  examining  the 
result  of  her  labor.  She  was  indeed  glad  that  she 
had  decided  not  to  divulge  her  secret,  now  that  she 


VICTORIA    DECIDES    TO  KEEP  IT  SECRET.  195 

heard  what  a  pleasant  impression  the  new  neigh- 
bors had  made,  especially  upon  Honor;  but  she 
wished  that  she  were  at  liberty  to  enjoy  their 
society  herself. 

"  I  am  doing  this  quite  nicely,"  said  she,  taking 
out  the  paper  and  showing  it  to  her  sisters. 

"  Why,  so  you  are  !  "  exclaimed  Katherine.  "  I 
had  no  idea  you  would  learn  so  quickly,  though  you 
have  spelled  some  of  these  words  in  a  new  and 
rather  remarkable  way.  But,  Vic,  how  funny  you 
are !  You  were  wild  to  have  us  call  on  the  Madi- 
sons,  and  apparently  most  anxious  to  go  there 
yourself,  and  now  you  seem  to  take  so  little  inter- 
est in  them,  and  you  rushed  away  after  you  were 
actually  in  the  house.  It  was  a  frightfully  rude 
thing  to  do,  and  they  didn't  know  what  to  make  of 
it.  Honor  and  I  had  the  greatest  time  explaining 
to  them." 

"  What  did  you  tell  them  ?  "  asked  Victoria. 

"  Oh,  we  said  that  you  were  very  busy,  as  you 
were  still  at  school,  and  had  probably  remembered 
some  lesson,  or  something  that  you  hadn't  done. 
We  were  perfectly  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  say, 
weren't  we,  Honor  ?  " 

"  Yes.     It   was    really   rude,   Vic.     I    think    you 


196  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

ought  to  apologize  to  Miss  Madison.  You  had 
better  go  there  very  soon  and  explain,  though  I 
can't  imagine  what  you  are  going  to  tell  her.  It 
will  be  rather  peculiar  to  say  that  you  were  fright- 
ened. They  are  coming  here  very  soon  and  per- 
haps you  can  make  it  right  then." 

"  All  of  them  ?  "  asked  Victoria. 

"  No ;  only  Miss  Madison  and  her  brother.  Mrs. 
Madison  is  an  invalid  and  doesn't  go  anywhere,  but 
they  are  coming." 

Victoria  groaned  in  spirit,  but  she  made  no  audi- 
ble comment,  and  presently  her  sisters  left  her. 
She  would  now  have  a  difficult  road  to  travel,  she 
said  to  herself.  She  must  watch  with  increasing 
vigilance  and  promptly  disappear  if  there  was  the 
slightest  chance  of  meeting  Roger  Madison.  She 
was  leaning  back  in  her  chair,  pondering  the  situa- 
tion, her  brow  puckered  by  the  deep  thought  in 
which  she  was  engaged,  when  Peter  entered  the 
room,  followed  closely  by  Sophy  and  Sirius. 

Since  the  day  last  week  when  he  had  deserted 
Sophy  in  the  woods  Peter  had  been  unusually 
attentive  to  his  small  sister.  He  had  said  little 
upon  the  subject,  but  he  had  thought  about  it,  and 
he  undoubtedly  felt  some  remorse  for  his  share  in 


VICTORIA   DECIDES    TO  KEEP  IT  SECRET.  197 

the  events  of  that  afternoon.  It  was  very  stupid  of 
Sophy  to  have  allowed  herself  to  lose  her  way,  he 
thought,  but  then  she  was  only  a  girl  and  a  little 
one  at  that.  What  else  could  one  expect  of  so 
benighted  an  individual  ?  And  he  was  fond  of 
Sophy  after  a  fashion,  he  said  to  himself  with 
superb  condescension,  and  was  sorry  that  she  had 
been  frightened.  Therefore  he  had  allowed  her  to 
bear  him  company  more  constantly  than  usual  dur- 
ing the  past  few  days,  and  Sophy  was  in  the  seventh 
heaven  of  delight  in  consequence. 

At  the  present  moment  they  were  engaged  in  a 
spirited  discussion,  which  was  not  uncommon,  or, 
to  be  more  exact,  Peter  was  in  the  act  of  laying 
down  the  law  to  Sophy,  this  being  one  of  his 
favorite  pastimes. 

"  You  are  a  perfect  little  goose,  Sophy !  I  can't 
imagine  what  you  are  thinking  of.  A  wheelwright ! 
I  told  you  the  other  day  what  I  was  going  to  do. 
Have  you  forgotten  already  ?  Your  memory  isn't 
worth  a  cent.  But  what  else  can  you  expect  of  a 
girl?" 

Sophy  became  visibly  depressed. 

"  I  wish  I  could  remember,  Peter,"  she  said, 
searching  in  the  depths  of  her  memory  for  Peter's 


198  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

words  of  wisdom  too  precious  to  be  lost.  "  Did 
you  tell  me  long  ago  ? " 

"  Not  long  ago,  at  all.  It  was  the  day  you  got 
scared  in  the  woods.  If  you  remember,  don't  say 
anything,  for  Vic  is  here,  and  you  know  it's  a 
secret.  Don't  you  know  the  thing  that's  going 
to  have  nothing  about  girls  ?  Well,  no  matter. 
All  the  less  chance  of  the  secret's  getting  out  if 
you've  forgotten  it.  What  do  you  suppose  Sophy 
wants  me  to  be,  when  I'm  grown  up,  Vic  ? " 

"  I  can't  imagine,"  said  Victoria.  "  A  clergy- 
man ? " 

"  No,  indeed.  The  most  ridiculous  thing  you 
ever  heard  of :  a  wheelwright !  " 

"  A  wheelwright  ?  "  repeated  Victoria.  "  Where 
in  the  world  did  you  get  that  idea,  child  ? " 

Sophy  looked  ready  to  cry.  She  felt  that  it  was 
hard,  indeed,  that  even  her  beloved  Vic  should 
question  her  sagacity. 

"  I  only  meant  because  it's  so  safe,"  she  faltered. 
"  I  do  want  Peter  to  do  something  he  won't  be 
killed  in.  I  didn't  think  about  the  clergyman. 
He  could  be  that,  of  course,  and  not  be  killed. 
But  my  history  lesson  this  morning  was  all  about 
wars  and  battles,  and  I  felt  so  worried  about  Peter, 


VICTORIA   DECIDES    TO  KEEP  IT  SECRET.          199 

in  case  he  should  be  a  soldier  or  a  sailor  when  he 
grows  up.  The  soldiers  get  shot,  and  the  sailors 
get  drownded,  and  I  was  thinking  of  the  safest 
thing  he  could  be,  and  it  was  a  wheelwright. 
They  just  have  to  mend  wagons  and  carriages ; 
and  Peter  likes  to  mend  things  up  in  the  shop, 
you  know.  It  is  safer  than  a  blacksmith,  for  a 
horse  might  kick  a  blacksmith,  you  know,  and 
perhaps  kill  him." 

Peter  roared  with  laughter,  and  even  Victoria 
had  to  raise  her  hand  to  her  mouth  to  hide  a 
smile ;  but  she  saw  that  Sophy  was  very  much  in 
earnest,  and  she  would  not  hurt  her  feelings  for 
the  world.  Peter's  laugh,  however,  was  the  finish- 
ing touch.  Sophy  hid  her  face  in  her  sister's  lap, 
and  her  small  shoulders  shook  with  sobs. 

"  You're  real  mean  ! "  she  cried.  "  I  only  want  to 
save  your  life.  You're  my  only  brother ! " 

Victoria  frowned  fiercely  at  Peter  while  she 
endeavored  to  soothe  Sophy,  and  Peter  himself 
felt  a  little  remorseful  for  his  unfeeling  mirth. 
He  attempted  to  mend  matters. 

"  I'm  laughing  at  Sirius ! "  he  exclaimed.  "  Isn't  he 
too  absurd?  Sirius,  you  ridiculous  dog,  ha!  ha!  ha! 
Oh,  Sophy —  I  mean  Sirius,  how  funny  you  are  !  " 


200  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

Upon  which  Sirius  in  his  turn  was  sorely 
offended.  With  lowered  tail  and  with  an  appear- 
ance of  great  dejection,  he  crept  under  the  sofa. 
Like  the  rest  of  his  race  he  disliked  being  laughed 
at,  and  he  felt  that  he  had  done  nothing  to  sub- 
ject himself  to  such  an  insult.  He  had  been  lying 
at  his  master's  feet,  quite  sound  asleep,  and  no 
doubt  enjoying  the  dream  of  an  entrancing  walk 
in  the  woods,  when  he  had  been  recalled  to  real 
life  by  this  extravagant  burst  of  laughter  mingled 
with  the  sound  of  his  own  name.  Truly  he  had 
a  right  to  feel  aggrieved.  And  sitting  in  the  most 
remote  corner  beneath  the  sofa  he  thought  over 
his  wrongs. 

"  After  all,  your  idea  is  not  such  a  bad  one, 
Sophy,"  said  Victoria.  "  You  are  quite  right  about 
it  being  better  for  Peter  to  do  something  safe ; 
but  I  don't  think  wheelwrights  make  a  great  deal 
of  money,  and  as  Peter  is  the  only  man  in  our 
family,  it  is  rather  necessary  that  he  should  earn 
as  much  as  possible.  By  the  way,  Peter,  do  you 
know  where  Dave  is  this  afternoon  ? " 

"  No,  I  can't  find  him.  He  must  be  off  some- 
where." 

"  Where  do  you  suppose  he  goes  ?  " 


VICTORIA   DECIDES    TO   KEEP  IT  SECRET.          2OI 

"  I  don't  know,  I'm  sure,"  said  Peter,  indiffer- 
ently. "  Perhaps  he  goes  down  to  see  his  people 
in  Fordham." 

"  Perhaps  he  goes  to  walk  with  that  brother," 
suggested  Sophy,  who  had  dried  her  eyes  and 
quickly  recovered  from  her  recent  mortification. 
"  He  isn't  a  nice  brother,  though,  and  he  talked 
regular  swear-words.  I  shouldn't  think  Dave 
would  like  him  to  do  it." 

"Neither  should  I,"  said  Victoria,  "and  I  wish  he 
wouldn't  go  off  so  much.  I  think  Honor  had  bet- 
ter speak  to  him.  Even  though  we  have  another 
man  at  work,  he  needs  Dave's  help  if  we  are  go- 
ing to  make  anything  out  of  the  vegetables." 

The  girls  had  determined  to  turn  their  garden 
to  account  this  summer,  and  to  send  their  vege- 
tables and  perhaps  some  of  their  fruit  to  the  mar- 
kets for  sale.  They  had  engaged  a  gardener  for 
the  purpose,  and  although  his  wages  took  a  large 
slice  of  their  earnings,  they  had  decided  after 
consulting  with  Mr.  Abbott  that  it  would  be  a 
wise  thing  to  do.  Mr.  Abbott  had  been  ill  the 
greater  part  of  the  winter  and  had  been  unable 
to  come  to  Glen  Arden  for  several  months,  but 
his  wards  heard  from  him  frequently,  and  they 


202  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

seldom  undertook  any  important  project  without 
asking  his  advice. 

"  I  will  speak  to  Honor  about  it  now,"  con- 
tinued Victoria.  "Come,  Sophy!  Come  with  me, 
and  then  we'll  go  down  to  the  garden  afterwards 
and  see  how  things  are  going  there.  Fortu- 
nately it  is  Friday,  so  we  have  no  lessons  to 
learn." 

Leaving  Peter  to  conciliate  the  offended  Sirius 
as  best  he  could,  Victoria  and  Sophy  went  up- 
stairs. 

The  following  week  passed  quickly  enough, 
and  all  too  soon  came  the  day  before  that  on 
which  Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward  was  to  descend 
upon  them.  Katherine,  in  spite  of  the  entreaties 
of  her  sisters,  had  deferred  until  the  last  possible 
moment  her  removal  to  another  room.  At  length, 
however,  further  delay  became  out  of  the  ques- 
tion, and  on  Wednesday  evening  she  announced 
that  she  should  begin  to  remove  her  effects  to 
the  third  story  if  her  family  would  assist  in  the 
operation. 

Peter  and  Victoria  had  each  offered  to  take  the 
third-story  apartment  and  give  either  of  theirs 
on  the  second  floor  to  Katherine  if  she  desired, 


VICTORIA   DECIDES    TO  KEEP  IT  SECRET.          203 

but  she  had  finally  decided  that  she  preferred  to 
go  up  herself.  There  were  two  rooms  there  with 
a  square  hall  between,  and  she  rather  fancied  the 
idea  of  having  a  whole  suite  to  herself,  where  she 
would  be  quite  free  from  interruption  or  criticism. 
It  was  not  probable  that  her  Aunt  Sophia  would 
often  mount  those  steep  stairs,  she  thought. 

"  If  we  get  everything  moved  up  to-night,  B.  Laf- 
ferty  can  clean  my  room  to-morrow,  and  it  will 
be  all  ready  for  our  dear  aunt  by  the  time  she 
arrives,"  said  Katherine.  So  after  supper  the  four 
girls  ascended  and  began  the  task  of  "moving" 
Katherine. 

Peter  took  no  part  in  the  proceedings,  but  re- 
tired to  the  "shop,"  where  he  had  some  work  in 
which  he  was  interested.  Very  soon  they  were 
all  actively  engaged,  one  carrying  skirts  and  hats, 
another  staggering  under  a  pile  of  boxes,  still  an- 
other rummaging  in  the  depths  of  the  closet, 
bringing  to  light  all  sorts  of  things  which  Kath- 
erine had  stowed  away  there  in  some  remote  period 
of  the  past,  and  had  apparently  forgotten.  Occa- 
sionally Honor  or  Victoria  would  pause  in  dismay 
as  some  new  article  appeared  which  they  did  not 
know  that  Katherine  possessed. 


204  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  Where  did  you  get  that,  Katherine  ? "  they 
asked  more  than  once. 

"  Oh,  I  bought  it  a  long  time  ago,  when  we 
had  more  money.  Not  this  winter  of  course,  girls. 
I  really  thought  I  needed  it  at  the  time,  and  it 
is  so  pretty." 

Sophy  enjoyed  the  experience  to  the  utmost. 
She  had  always  longed  to  investigate  ^Catherine's 
possessions,  which  she  knew  to  be  more  interest- 
ing than  those  of  her  other  sisters,  but  she  had 
never  hitherto  been  allowed  this  privilege.  Now 
that  the  desired  opportunity  had  come,  she  deter- 
mined to  make  the  most  of  it.  Unheeded  by  her 
busy  sisters,  she  sat  on  the  floor  and  explored 
box  after  box  of  ribbons,  and  odds  and  ends  of 
finery,  feeling  that  at  last  the  millennium  was 
here. 

It  occurred  to  Victoria's  frugal  mind,  as  she 
glanced  from  the  gallery  to  the  hall  below  dur- 
ing one  of  her  trips  to  the  third  story,  that  it 
was  scarcely  worth  while  to  have  so  much  light 
downstairs,  as  there  was  no  one  there  to  make 
use  of  it.  Surely  it  was  extravagant  to  burn  so 
much  oil  unnecessarily,  so  without  mentioning  it 
to  the  others,  who  would  have  been  sure  to 


VICTORIA   DECIDES    TO  KEEP  IT  SECRET.          205 

expostulate,  she  ran  down  and  put  out  the  lamps, 
at  the  same  time  bolting  the  front  door  and 
attending  to  the  fastenings  of  the  windows.  Then 
she  went  upstairs  again  and  continued  her  work. 

Ten  minutes  later  the  sound  of  the  door-bell 
was  heard  through  the  house.  Sirius,  who  had 
been  lying  at  the  head  of  the  stairs,  broke  into 
loud  and  furious  barking  and  rushed  to  the  front 
door.  The  girls  looked  at  one  another  in  con- 
sternation. 

"  Who  can  it  be  at  this  hour  ?  "  exclaimed  Honor. 
"  It  must  be  very  late." 

"  It  is  only  a  little  after  eight,"  said  Victoria, 
"  and  all  the  lights  are  out  downstairs !  Hurry 
and  fix  yourselves  up,  girls !  Blanch,  Blanch, 
wait ! "  she  exclaimed  in  an  agitated  whisper  as 
the  maid's  heavy  footsteps  were  heard  in  the 
hall  below.  Victoria  flew  down  the  stairs  almost 
as  quickly  as  Sirius  had  gone. 

"  Don't  open  the  door  till  I  light  the  lamps," 
she  said. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

ROGER    MADISON    TELLS    A    STORY. 

IT  did  not  really  take  long  to  light  the  lamps, 
but  to  Victoria  it  seemed  an  age.  Matches 
broke  in  her  hand  as  she  struck  them,  her  trem- 
bling fingers  allowed  a  chimney  to  slip  from  their 
grasp  to  be  dashed  in  a  thousand  atoms  upon 
the  floor,  and  in  the  meantime  she  heard  voices 
upon  the  piazza,  while  Blanch,  standing  close  to 
the  front  door,  asked  her  in  loud  and  penetrating 
tones  if  she  were  not  yet  ready  to  have  it  opened. 

At  last,  signalling  to  her  that  tfie  time  had  come 
to  admit  the  visitors,  whoever  they  might  be,  Vic- 
toria disappeared  through  the  door  which  led  to 
the  back  of  the  house  and  listened  at  its  crack 
while  Blanch  drew  back  the  bolts  with  a  clatter 
and  noisily  turned  the  key  in  the  lock, 

"  Are  the  young  ladies  at  home  ?  "  she  heard  a 
voice  ask  which  she  felt  sure  was  Miss  Madison's. 
She  hoped  devoutly  that  Blanch's  reply  would  be  a 

206 


ROGER  MADISON    TELLS  A    STORY.  2O/ 

discreet  one.  Unfortunately  Blanch  was  so  apt  to 
be  loquacious. 

"  Yes'm,  they're  home,"  replied  B.  Lafferty,  "  but  I 
guess  they've  gone  to  bed.  The  lights  was  all  out, 
but  Miss  Vic  come  down  an'  lit  'em.  I'll  see  if 
the  others  is  up." 

Victoria  groaned  aloud.  All  her  ingenuity  had 
been  of  no  avail,  and  Blanch  had  capped  the 
unfortunate  climax  by  speaking  of  her  as  "  Miss 
Vic !  " 

"  Oh,  we  have  come  too  late  ! "  exclaimed  Miss 
Madison.  "  I  was  afraid  that  we  were.  We  will 
come  another  time.  Don't  disturb  them  now." 

"All  right,"  returned  Blanch,  affably.  "Just  as 
you  say,  mum.'" 

Victoria  felt  ready  to  dart  from  her  hiding-place 
and  detain  the  visitors  by  force,  but  at  that  moment 
Honor's  light  step  was  heard  upon  the  stairs. 

"  We  haven't  gone  to  bed  at  all,"  said  she,  "  and 
are  delighted  to  see  you.  We  were  upstairs  this 
evening,  and  some  one  put  out  the  lamps  by  mis- 
take." 

And  then  a  man's  voice  was  heard,  and  Victoria 
knew  that  the  dreaded  Roger  was  also  there.  She 
hastened  up  the  back  stairs  as  Katherine  in  her 


2O8  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

turn  went  down  the  front,  and  proceeded  to  devote 
herself  to  finishing  the  task  of  the  evening,  con- 
gratulating herself  that  she  had  not  been  caught. 

Sophy  meanwhile  had  disappeared,  and  Victoria 
in  thinking  over  the  excitement  of  the  last  few 
minutes  completely  forgot  her.  In  fact,  she  sup- 
posed that  she  was  in  bed  as  she  usually  was  at 
this  hour.  The  little  girl,  however,  had  been  en- 
gaged in  making  hay  while  the  sun  shone.  In 
other  words,  she  had  retired  to  the  room  which  she 
shared  with  Victoria,  and  had  taken  with  her  a 
large  box  of  treasures  which  she  had  abstracted 
from  Katherine's  belongings,  in  which  she  pro- 
ceeded to  array  herself. 

Upon  her  head  she  placed  a  wreath  of  artificial 
roses  from  an  old  hat  of  Katherine's,  which,  owing 
to  her  short  hair,  it  was  a  difficult  matter  to  adjust. 
Filially,  however,  this  was  arranged  to  her  satisfac- 
tion, and  she  then  draped  about  her  shoulders  a 
large  white  lace  scarf,  which  she  fastened  at  one 
side  with  an  immense  bow  of  yellow  satin.  Kathe- 
rine  when  she  wore  colors  had  been  fond  of  brilliant 
ones,  and  was  constantly  buying  all  varieties  of 
flowers,  ribbons,  and  what  not  for  her  personal 
adornment.  Just  as  Sophy  had  finished  thus  deck- 


ROGER   MADISON   TELLS  A   STORY.  209 

ing  herself  had  come  the  flurry  which  ensued  upon 
the  ringing  of  the  door-bell,  and  then  the  girls  had 
gone  down  to  receive  the  visitors. 

Sophy  had  heard  so  much  of  these  new  neighbors 
during  the  last  few  days  that  she  was  most  desirous 
of  seeing  them.  She  had  walked  past  the  house  on 
the  hill  more  than  once  in  the  hope  that  her  curi- 
osity might  be  gratified,  but  to  no  avail.  Now  they 
were  actually  in  the  house.  It  was  too  good  an 
opportunity  to  let  slip.  Shortly  after  Victoria  came 
up  the  back  stairs,  Sophy  crept  down  by  the  same 
route.  Softly  she  opened  the  door  which  led  to  the 
front  of  the  house  and  stealthily  she  took  her  way 
into  the  square  hall. 

A  screen  usually  stood  near  the  door  at  the  back 
of  the  parlor.  She  hoped  that  she  should  find  it 
there  now,  and  that  no  one  would  be  sitting  at  that 
end  of  the  parlor.  In  that  case  she  could  peep 
from  behind  the  screen  or  perhaps  through  its 
crack.  She  found  to  her  satisfaction  that  the 
screen  was  there,  and  that  her  sisters  with  their 
guests  were  sitting  at  the  farther  end  of  the  room, — 
it  was  a  large  one  with  two  doors,  —  and  she  imme- 
diately placed  herself  in  a  position  from  which  she 
fancied  that  she  could  command  a  view  of  the  room 


210  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

without  being  perceived  herself.  She  was  also 
pleased  to  discover  that  her  sisters  were  sitting  with 
their  backs  to  her,  while  their  visitors  faced  her. 
She  could  thus  see  exactly  what  they  looked  like. 

Mr.  Madison  was  telling  Katherine  a  story.  It 
appeared  to  be  an  interesting  tale  as  well  as  an 
amusing  one,  for  Katherine  was  laughing  heartily, 
and  presently  Honor  and  Miss  Madison  gave  up 
their  conversation  and  listened  also.  Sophy,  think- 
ing the  crack  unsatisfactory  and  growing  bolder, 
peered  around  the  corner  of  the  screen  for  a  sec- 
ond at  a  time.  She  found  it  a  fascinating  pursuit. 

Mr.  Madison  continued  his  story.  It  was  a 
favorite  one  with  him,  and  he  had  seldom  found 
more  appreciative  listeners  than  the  two  Miss 
Starrs.  He  was  approaching  his  point,  leading 
up  to  it  with  the  skill  of  an  accomplished  story- 
teller when  —  what  was  that?  His  eye  caught 
something  that  moved,  at  the  other  end  of  the 
room.  Probably  the  dog  which  had  barked  upon 
their  arrival  and  had  since  disappeared.  He  con- 
tinued his  tale,  but  there  it  was  again !  Surely  it 
was  no  dog  that  he  saw,  but  pink  roses,  yellow  rib- 
bon, white  lace,  appearing,  vanishing,  and  reappear- 
ing from  behind  the  screen. 

O 


ROGER  MADISON  TELLS  A   STORY.  211 

He  faltered  for  a  moment  in  the  story,  and  his 
sister  wondered  what  was  the  matter.  She  looked 
at  him,  and  then  followed  his  glance.  It  was  rest- 
ing upon  an  extraordinary  vision.  A  small  pale 
face,  with  large  brown  eyes  wide  open  with  won- 
der at  the  tale,  the  face  surmounted  by  a  wreath 
of  pink  roses,  was  thrust  from  behind  the  screen. 
Roger  controlled  his  amusement  with  difficulty, 
and  brought  the  story  to  an  abrupt  termination. 

"  Is  that  really  true  ? "  asked  a  voice  from  the 
back  of  the  room  when  the  laughter  had  ceased. 

The  sisters  turned.  There  stood  Sophy  in  her 
fantastic  costume,  emerging  boldly  from  her  hid- 
ing-place and  bent  as  usual  upon  probing  the 
truth  of  the  story  to  the  core. 

"  Is  it  true  ? "  she  repeated. 

"  Why,  Sophy ! "  exclaimed  Honor  and  Kath- 
erine  together.  "  What  are  you  doing  there  ? 
What  have  you  got  on  ?  And  why  aren't  you  in 
bed?" 

"  I  want  to  know  if  that  story  is  true." 

It  was  always  impossible  to  turn  Sophy  from 
the  subject  which  at  the  moment  chanced  to 
absorb  her. 

"  I'm    afraid   it   isn't,"   replied    Roger    Madison, 


212  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

laughing,  "but  if  you  will  come  over  here,  I  will 
tell  you  one  that  is." 

"  Sophy,  you  ought  to  be  in  bed,"  said  Honor, 
severely.  "  I  can't  imagine  what  you  mean  by 
coming  down  to  the  parlor  dressed  up  in  those 
extraordinary  things." 

"  I  didn't  know  they  were  strordinary,  Honor. 
I  thought  they  were  pretty.  They're  Kathie's 
things,"  she  continued,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
visitors,  "  out  of  her  boxes.  We're  moving  Kathie 
to  the  third  story  'cause  Aunt  Sophia's  coming 
to-morrow.  Kathie  has  to  give  up  her  room  to 
her,  but  she  doesn't  want  to." 

"  Sophy ! "  exclaimed  Honor,  in  a  tone  of  warn- 
ing, while  the  Madisons  laughed  aloud. 

"  It  is  perfectly  true,  Honor.  You  know  Kathie 
said  at  first  she  wouldn't." 

Honor  rose  to  her  feet,  but  Katherine  concluded 
that  the  better  plan  would  be  to  laugh  off  a  situa- 
tion which  was  rapidly  becoming  awkward. 

"  It  is  quite  true,"  she  said.  "  Our  small  sister 
has  let  the  cat  out  of  the  bag,  and  we  may  as  well 
tell  you  the  rest.  Our  aunt,  Mrs.  Wentworth 
Ward,  is  coming  to-morrow  to  stay  all  summer, 
and  I  didn't  want  to  give  up  my  room  at  all,  but 


ROGER  MADISON   TELLS  A    STORY. 

she  wanted  it  and  —  well,  Aunt  Sophia  usually 
has  what  she  wants." 

"  I  don't  wonder  you  were  busy  to-night,  then," 
said  Miss  Madison,  who  liked  Katherine  all  the 
better  for  her  frankness.  She  was  about  to  say 
more  when  Sophy's  solemn  voice  was  again  heard. 

"  Kathie,  I  don't  know  what  you  mean.  We 
haven't  any  cat.  You  know  we  can't  have  one 
on  account  of  Sirius,  and  so  I  couldn't  possibly 
let  it  out  of  a  bag.  I  think  you're  making  up  a 
story,  Kathie." 

This  speech  was  received  with  such  shouts  of 
laughter  that  Sophy  fled  from  the  room  and  up 
to  Victoria,  who  was  listening  at  the  head  of  the 
stairs.  She  had  missed  Sophy,  and,  after  looking 
for  her  in  vain,  had  finally  detected  her  where- 
abouts. Now  she  received  her  weeping  sister, 
and  led  her  to  the  safe  seclusion  of  their  own 
room. 

"  I  think  you  are  a  very  interesting  family," 
said  Miss  Madison,  when  she  and  her  brother 
finally  rose  to  take  leave.  "  Don't  scold  Sophy 
for  coming  down,  will  you  ?  I  take  it  as  a  great 
compliment  that  she  wanted  to  see  us.  We  have 
yet  to  meet  your  brother  and  the  sister  who  dis- 


214  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

appeared  so  suddenly  the  other  day.  Please  be 
very  neighborly,  for  I  like  you,"  she  added,  "and, 
Miss  Katherine,  perhaps  you  will  come  up  Monday 
afternoon  and  bring  some  of  your  music.  I  long 
to  play  with  you.  I  should  be  glad  to  have  your 
sisters  come,  too.  Good  night." 

"  What  must  they  think  of  us  ? "  exclaimed 
Honor,  when  the  front  door  was  finally  shut. 
"  The  whole  affair  was  too  dreadful." 

"  I  don't  think  so  at  all,"  said  Katherine.  "  It 
was  all  very  funny  from  beginning  to  end,  and 
they  are  just  the  kind  of  people  to  take  it  nicely. 
But  did  you  ever  see  such  a  sight  as  Sophy ! 
Fancy  her  taking  all  my  precious  things ! " 

"  Fancy  her  coming  down  and  listening  in  that 
way,"  said  Honor.  "  It  was  perfectly  dreadful." 

"  Don't  scold  her  about  it,"  said  Victoria,  who 
had  joined  them.  "  She  has  been  crying  so  hard, 
and  she  is  waiting  for  you  to  come  to  bid  her  good 
night,  Honor.  She  didn't  know  it  wasn't  the  right 
thing  to  do,  but  I've  been  explaining  to  her.  She 
was  crazy  to  see  the  Madisons,  and  she  forgot  she 
had  those  things  on.  I  was  rather  curious  myself 
to  know  what  you  were  talking  about  when  I  heard 
such  a  jolly  time  going  on  down  here." 


ROGER  MADISON   TELLS  A   STORY.  215 

"  Why  didn't  you  come  down  ? "  asked  Kath- 
erine.  "  They  both  asked  for  you." 

"  Too  busy,"  replied  her  sister.  "  I've  finished 
moving  you.  If  I  hadn't  stayed  upstairs,  we  should 
have  had  to  be  up  all  night,  or  you  never  would 
have  been  ready  for  Aunt  Sophia." 

The  next  afternoon  Peter  announced  his  inten- 
tion of  going  off  to  the  woods.  He  was  interested 
in  a  pair  of  birds  that  had  made  their  nest  in  a 
certain  tree,  and  whenever  he  had  a  spare  moment 
he  went  to  the  woods  to  watch  them.  He  had 
declined  to  take  Sophy  with  him  to-day,  giving  as 
his  reason  that  she  talked  too  much. 

"  You  can't  see  a  thing  in  the  woods,"  he  said 
wisely,  "  if  a  girl's  along.  They  always  chatter, 
chatter,  chatter,  like  a  squirrel.  When  Carney  and 
I  go  together,  we  don't  say  a  word,  and  pretty  soon 
all  the  creatures  come  out  and  attend  to  their  busi- 
ness just  as  they  would  if  we  weren't  there.  Creat- 
ures are  awfully  afraid  of  people.  You  know  you 
never  see  anything  about  when  you  just  go  walking 
through  the  woods.  They  all  stay  in  their  holes 
and  nests.  But  if  you  just  go  sit  there  and  watch 
and  don't  make  a  sound,  they  begin  to  come  out,  and 
it's  lots  of  fun.  I'll  take  Sirius  because  he  minds 


2l6  %  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

me  and  keeps  quiet  when  I  tell  him  to,  but  it's  no 
good  to  say  that  to  Sophy." 

"  Why,  Peter,"  said  Sophy,  in  an  injured  tone,  "  I 
won't  say  a  word  if  you  don't  want  me  to.  You 
tell  me  things  when  we  are  out  walking,  and  then 
I  have  to  answer,  but  I  won't  if  you'll  only  let  me 

g°-" 

"  I  really  think  you  ought  to  stay  at  home  this 

afternoon,  Sophy,"  interposed  Honor.  "  You  know 
Aunt  Sophia  is  coming,  and  she  will  be  disappointed 
if  her  namesake  isn't  here  to  receive  her." 

"  I  wish  I  hadn't  been  named  after  her,"  re- 
marked Sophy,  with  an  aggrieved  air.  "  It's  an 
awful  bother.  When  you're  named  for  people  you 
always  have  to  do  things  you  don't  want  to.  Now 
there's  Peter  can  go  to  the  woods  this  afternoon. 
He  couldn't  if  he  was  named  for  Aunt  Sophia." 

"  What  a  big  goose  you  are  !  "  said  Peter.  "  As 
if  a  boy  could  have  been  named  Sophia ! " 

"  I  wish  you  would  do  a  little  weeding  before 
you  go,  Peter,"  said  Honor. 

"  And  if  you  could  only  help  me  move  some  of 
the  furniture  in  my  new  room,"  added  Katherine. 
"  I  can't  get  it  fixed  to  suit  me  at  all,  and  it  is  so 
heavy.  Can't  you,  Peter?" 


ROGER  MADISON   TELLS  A    STORY.  21 7 

"  Oh,  goodness,"  said  Peter,  "  what  a  bother ! 
I  suppose  I've  got  to  move  the  furniture,  but  the 
weeding  will  have  to  wait.  I  tell  you,  I  must  go 
to  the  woods  this  afternoon.  Hurry  up,  now,  if 
you  want  me  upstairs."  And  he  ran  off  himself 
two  steps  at  a  time. 

Katherine  was  hard  to  please,  and  half  an  hour 
at  least  was  consumed  before  the  furniture  was 
arranged  to  her  satisfaction.  Peter  in  consequence 
became  more  and  more  ill-tempered,  and  when  she 
paused  in  the  midst  of  her  directions  to  tell  him 
that  his  hands  were  not  particularly  clean  and  that 
his  collar  was  frayed  at  the  edge,  he  lost  all 
patience. 

"  Who  cares  whether  my  hands  are  clean  or  not 
for  moving  your  old  furniture,"  said  he ;  "  and  if 
the  collar  is  frayed  at  the  edge,  what  made  you  put 
it  in  my  drawer  when  it  came  out  of  the  wash  ? 
It's  your  own  fault,  and  speaking  of  washing  hands, 
I  wash  mine  of  this  old  sofa." 

And  he  departed,  leaving  the  sofa  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  room  for  Katherine  to  move  alone  as 
best  she  could. 

Peter  and  Sirius  took  their  way  across  the 
woody  pasture  beyond  the  barn  and  the  garden. 


218  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

It  was  indeed  good  to  be  out  of  doors  on  such  a 
day  as  this,  and  there  was  no  knowing  what  of 
interest  might  be  in  store  for  them.  Katherine's 
criticisms  were  soon  forgotten,  and  master  and 
dog  were  happy  in  each  other's  company  and  in 
the  indefinable  something  which  pervaded  the  at- 
mosphere this  afternoon  of  the  first  of  May  and 
which  filled  the  hearts  of  both  with  a  sense  of 
elation. 

It  was  an  ideal  May  day,  warm  and  balmy. 
The  songs  of  the  lately  arrived  birds  filled  the 
air;  active  little  chipmunks,  awakened  from  their 
winter's  sleep,  darted  here  and  there  with  amaz- 
ing fleetness,  while  the  frogs  croaked  loudly  on 
the  river  bank,  rejoicing  that  spring  had  come. 

Suddenly  Sirius  darted  forward  in  swift  pursuit 
of  a  little  creature  which  had  ventured  forth  from 
its  home  shortly  before  and  had  been  unmindful 
of  the  approach  of  two  such  hereditary  enemies 
as  a  boy  and  a  dog.  Quickly  though  Sirius  ran, 
however,  the  little  animal,  having  the  start,  and 
becoming  conscious  at  once  that  it  was  being 
pursued,  darted  away  and  was  lost  to  sight. 

"  It  was  a  weasel,  I  verily  believe,"  exclaimed 
Peter  aloud,  running  in  great  excitement  to  the 


ROGER  MADISON   TELLS  A    STORY.  2 1C) 

spot  where  it  had  disappeared.  "  Sirius,  why  didn't 
you  catch  him?  It  is  the  one  that  has  been  kill- 
ing our  chickens." 

Sirius  was  beside  himself  with  rage  and  disap- 
pointment. There  was  enough  of  the  terrier  in 
his  nature  to  make  him  feel  that  a  weasel  was  his 
lawful  prey,  and  he  jumped  madly  about  the  stump 
where  the  weasel  had  disappeared,  barking,  dig- 
ging in  the  ground,  and  nosing  in  every  direction. 

"  Yes,  I  do  believe  it  lives  here,  Sirius,"  said 
Peter.  "  We'll  get  him  yet.  Here's  a  little  pas- 
sage-way among  the  roots  of  the  stump.  We'll 
dig  out  the  nest  as  soon  as  we  get  a  chance, 
Sirius.  I  saw  a  weasel's  nest  once,  dug  it  out, 
and  it  was  as  cosy  as  possible,  lined  with  dead 
leaves  and  grass  and  feathers  and  a  snake's  skin. 
We  don't  want  any  more  dead  chickens  lying 
with  holes  in  their  necks,  indeed  we  don't.  Come 
on  now,  sir!  We're  going  to  the  woods." 

They  continued  their  walk,  Sirius  leaving  the 
stump  sorely  against  his  will,  and  going  back  to 
it  again  and  again ;  and  finally  they  reached  the 
thicker  woods  where  Sophy  had  lost  her  way 
on  the  memorable  occasion  when  the  owl  had 
shrieked  and  had  so  sorely  frightened  her. 


22O  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  I  wish  I  could  find  that  owl  to-day,  but  I 
don't  believe  he  lives  in  these  woods,"  thought 
Peter.  "  I  will  look  for  him  before  I  go  watch 
those  other  birds.  I  believe  that  was  the  big 
tree  where  the  owl  was  sitting  when  it  yelled." 

He  walked  quietly  to  the  spot,  and  seating 
himself  on  a  fallen  tree  he  ordered  Sirius  to  be 
quiet.  Nothing  living  was  to  be  seen.  The  new 
leaves  upon  the  trees  were  not  very  thick  as  yet, 
and  the  afternoon  sun  shone  warmly  through 
them,  resting  in  patches  on  the  undergrowth. 
With  his  hand  on  the  dog's  collar  Peter  sat  and 
waited. 

Presently  a  gray  squirrel  moved  cautiously  along 
a  branch,  sitting  quite  still  for  a  moment  to  watch 
them  with  mingled  curiosity  and  anxiety,  and 
then,  finding  these  strangers  so  motionless  and 
apparently  so  harmless,  approaching  quite  near 
to  them.  It  was  hard  for  Sirius  to  remain  quiet 
with  so  entrancing  an  object  of  pursuit  within 
easy  reach,  but  he  had  been  well  trained  and, 
above  all,  he  loved  Peter,  and  was  not  Peter's 
hand  upon  his  collar? 

Very  soon  the  gray  squirrel  became  tired  of 
looking  at  them  and  ran  away,  and  in  the  mean- 


ROGER  MADISON   TELLS  A   STORY.  221 

time  Peter  had  discovered  something  in  the  tall 
tree  which  he  had  been  watching.  About  forty 
feet  above  him  was  a  hole  as  large  as  his  own 
head,  and  standing  on  the  edge  of  this  hole  was 
an  owl.  At  first  Peter  had  not  been  able  to  dis- 
tinguish it,  for  it  was  of  a  mottled  brown,  and  so 
like  the  bark  of  the  tree  in  color  that  the  differ- 
ence could  at  first  glance  be  scarcely  detected. 
He  was  quite  sure,  however,  that  it  had  not  been 
there  when  he  arrived  upon  the  spot.  Neither 
did  he  think  that  it  was  the  same  owl  that  had 
given  the  strange  cry  the  other  day.  This 
seemed  like  a  little  screech  owl.  He  made  some 
slight  noise,  breaking  some  twigs  from  the  log 
on  which  he  was  sitting,  and  in  a  flash  the  owl 
disappeared  within  the  hole  and  was  seen  no 
more  that  afternoon. 

Peter  sat  here  until  he  was  tired,  watching  a 
snake  which  twisted  its  way  through  the  dead 
leaves,  the  gray  squirrels  which  ran  about  now 
in  confidence,  fancying  themselves  perfectly  se- 
cure, and  some  birds  that  had  nested  in  a  tree 
not  far  away.  He  hoped  that  the  snake  would 
not  reach  the  birds'  nest  and  steal  the  eggs,  but 
it  was  early  in  the  season  yet,  and  snakes  were 


222  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

still  sluggish  in  their  movements.  He  knew 
that  the  owls  were  secure,  for  their  eggs  had 
been  hatched  some  time  since,  and  the  young 
ones  were  probably  well  grown.  Indeed,  there 
was  a  possibility  that  the  other  birds,  if  they  es- 
caped the  snake,  might  fall  a  prey  to  the  owls 
that  lived  in  such  close  proximity,  and  that 
would  be  only  too  ready  to  pounce  upon  and 
devour  them  at  the  first  opportunity. 

At  last  Peter  rose  from  the  log,  and  releasing 
Sirius  with  a  commendatory  pat  for  his  good  be- 
havior, he  walked  off  through  the  woods.  There 
was  a  sudden  rustle  in  boughs  and  underbrush, 
frightened  bird  notes  sounded  from  the  branches, 
shrill  squirrel  warnings  came  from  the  trunks  of 
trees.  All  the  creatures,  which  had  supposed 
themselves  safe,  were  terrified  by  these  unex- 
pected movements  on  the  part  of  the  two  hith- 
erto motionless  objects  that  had  been  there  so 
long,  and  quickly  gave  notice  to  their  compan- 
ions that  danger  was  abroad  in  the  forest. 

But  Peter  and  Sirius  left  them  unmolested, 
and  continued  their  way  to  the  outskirts  of  the 
wood.  It  was  later  than  Peter  had  supposed,  but 
he  determined  to  take  a  still  longer  walk  and  to 


ROGER   MADISON   TELLS  A    STORY.  22$ 

go  home  by  a  round-about  way  which  could  be 
shortened  at  the  end  by  coming  up  the  branch 
railroad  which  led  directly  through  their  place. 

He  was  walking  quickly  over  this  railroad,  and 
was  crossing  a  bridge  which  was  above  the  river, 
when  his  foot  caught  on  one  of  the  ties,  and  he 
slipped  between  them.  Something  seemed  to 
snap  in  his  leg,  and  then  a  blackness  came  over 
him.  Strange  surging  noises  sounded  in  his  ears, 
and  he  knew  no  more. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

PETER    MEETS    WITH    A    SERIOUS    ACCIDENT. 

the  same  afternoon  upon  which  Mrs.  Went- 
worth  Ward  was  to  arrive  at  Glen  Arden,  and 
which  Peter  spent  in  the  woods,  Roger  Madison 
came  home  on  an  early  train  from  Boston  and 
invited  his  sister  to  go  out  on  the  river  with  him. 
Although  Margaret  was  fully  ten  years  older  than 
himself,  and  therefore  had  been  grown  up  when  he 
was  still  a  small  boy,  she  had  always  been  his  dear- 
est companion.  They  rode  and  drove  and  fished 
together,  they  played  and  sang,  they  read  the  same 
books  and  loved  the  same  pictures,  and  the  pleasure 
which  came  to  one  was  deprived  of  half  its  value  if 
it  were  not  shared  by  the  other. 

On  this  May  day  therefore  they  were  both   more 

% 

than  content  with  their  lot  when,  Margaret  being 
comfortably  placed  in  the  canoe,  Roger  stepped  in 
and  pushed  away  from  the  shore. 

"  Up  or  down  shall  it  be,  Margaret  ? "  he  asked. 

224 


PETER  MEETS   WITH  A   SERIOUS  ACCIDENT.       22$ 

"  Either.  Anything  is  charming,  even  if  we  were 
to  stay  exactly  where  we  are." 

"  As  you  are  so  agreeable  to  anything,  I  think  we 
will  go  up  river.  There  are  not  apt  to  be  so  many 
people  about  there  as  there  are  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Waterview  and  below.  The  river  is  wilder, 
too.  What  a  beautiful  winding  stream  the  Charles 
is!" 

He  paddled  quietly  up  stream,  and  they  talked 
or  not  as  they  felt  inclined,  and  drank  in  the  sweet- 
scented  air,  and  watched  the  turtles  sunning  them- 
selves on  the  rocks,  and  listened  to  the  hoarse 
croaking  of  the  bullfrogs.  Finally,  as  the  sun  sank 
in  the  west,  they  turned  and  floated  down  with  the 
current. 

"  Those  Starrs  are  very  interesting  girls,  I  think," 
remarked  Roger  after  a  silence  that  had  lasted  for 
some  moments.  "  Miss  Katherine  is  very  hand- 
some, but  the  elder  one's  face  is  very  lovely.  She 
is  not  as  strictly  beautiful  perhaps,  but  her  expres- 
sion is  such  a  noble  one* 

"  Katherine  is  more  interesting  to  me,"  said  his 
sister ;  "  I  like  Honor  immensely,  but  she  is  more 
conventional  than  Katherine  and  more  self-con- 
trolled. Katherine  is  full  of  fire  and  enthusiasm, 


226  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

and  I  like  it.  Plenty  of  faults,  no  doubt,  but  whole 
souled.  Honor  is  charming,  though,  too." 

"  They  seem  very  jolly  and  have  plenty  of  fun  in 
them.  How  amusing  it  was  last  night." 

"  Very ;  I  like  both  the  girls  very  much,  and  I  am 
curious  to  meet  the  other  one,  Victoria,  or  Vic,  as 
they  call  her.  Though  she  is  so  young,  she  seems 
to  be  a  moving  spirit  in  the  family.  I  wonder  why 
we  haven't  met  her  anywhere." 

"  Apparently  because  she  runs  away  from  us.  I 
was  sure  last  evening  that  I  caught  a  glimpse  of 
some  one  peeping  through  the  door  at  the  back  of 
the  hall  when  that  amiable  maid  of  theirs  was  tell- 
ing us  that  they  had  gone  to  bed,"  said  Roger, 
laughing  at  the  recollection. 

"  It  must  be  trying  for  them  to  give  up  so  much 
and  work  so  hard  when  they  have  been  accustomed 
to  such  a  different  life,"  said  his  sister.  "  Did  you 
notice  the  pictures  ?  " 

"  Yes.  They  were  chosen  by  some  one  with  very 
good  judgment.  There  *vere  one  or  two  water- 
colors  on  the  wall  that  were  excellent,  and  some 
fine  etchings.  I  saw  two  by  the  same  man  who  did 
the  one  that  I  gave  you  at  Christmas,  Margaret." 

"  The  one  you  bought  of  the  girl  in  the  picture 


PETER  MEETS   WITH  A   SERIOUS  ACCIDENT.       22/ 

store  ?  I  feel  a  special  interest  in  that  picture, 
Roger.  I  am  forever  imagining  what  kind  of  a  girl 
she  must  have  been  and  how  she  came  to  do  that." 

"  Because  she  had  to,  I  suppose.  She  was  a  nice- 
looking  little  thing,  and  she  was  a  lady.  Not  ex- 
actly pretty,  but  her  face  was  interesting.  I  saw  a 
photograph  at  the  Starrs'  last  night  that  reminded 
me  of  her.  I  meant  to  have  told  you." 

"  I  have  a  feeling  that  we  shall  see  her  again 
some  day,  because  I  am  so  deeply  interested  in 
her,"  said  Miss  Madison,  musingly.  "  I  don't 
think  I  could  feel  so  about  a  person  whom  I  am 
never  to  see.  But  what  a  keen-sighted  person 
you  are,  Roger!  Without  appearing  to  look 
about,  you  seem  to  have  absorbed  every  picture 
in  that  room.  I  daresay  you  could  tell  me  the 
titles  of  all  the  books  in  the  cases  and  the  music 
in  the  music  racks ! " 

"  As  well  as  the  number  of  roses  in  that  child's 
wreath,"  said  Roger,  laughing;  "I  wouldn't  have 
missed  that  sight  for  the  world.  What's  the 
matter  with  that  dog  ? "  he  asked  suddenly. 

They  were  about  to  pass  under  a  railroad 
bridge  not  far  from  their  own  home.  Standing 
on  the  bridge,  very  near  the  edge  and  almost 


228  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

falling  over  in  his  efforts  to  make  himself  heard, 
was  an  ungainly-looking  yellow  dog.  He  was 
barking  madly,  occasionally  varying  the  sound 
by  piteous  whines  and  yelps  of  entreaty.  Roger 
paused  and  looked  up. 

"  What's  the  matter,  old  fellow  ? "  he  said 
kindly.  "  You  had  better  get  off  the  track. 
You  will  be  run  over,  for  it  is  almost  time  for  a 
train." 

Upon  hearing  his  friendly  voice,  the  dog  darted 
from  the  bridge  and  came  running  and  tumbling 
down  the  steep  bank  to  the  river's  edge,  where 
he  renewed  his  barks  and  yelping,  turning  to 
run  up  the  bank  a  little  way  and  then  looking 
back  to  see  if  Roger  were  coming. 

"  Something  must  be  the  matter,  Roger,"  said 
Miss  Madison ;  "  do  go  and  see  !  A  dog  wouldn't 
behave  that  way  unless  there  was  some  trouble." 

Roger  pushed  up  to  shore,  and  then  handing 
the  paddle  to  his  sister  he  jumped  out  and  scram- 
bled up  the  bank,  the  dog  pausing  for  a  moment 
to  leap  about  with  delight  and  then  running 
before,  stopping  at  intervals,  however,  to  make 
sure  that  his  new  friend  was  close  behind. 

The    bank  was    high    and    steep,   but  when    the 


PETER  MEETS   WITH  A   SERIOUS  ACCIDENT.       229 

top  was  at  last  reached,  Roger  Madison  saw  im- 
mediately the  cause  of  the  dog's  excitement. 
Upon  the  bridge,  and  lying  between  the  rails 
with  his  face  down,  was  the  figure  of  a  boy. 
The  dog  ran  to  him  and  licked  his  hands  and 
ears,  which  were  the  only  parts  of  him  that  were 
visible.  Then  he  turned  to  Roger,  whining  pite- 
ously  again,  and  at  that  moment  was  heard  the 
whistle  of  a  train  that  was  leaving  Waterview  for 
its  trip  over  the  branch  road.  In  less  than  two 
minutes  it  would  reach  the  bridge. 

Madison  attempted  to  raise  the  boy,  only  to 
find  that  his  foot  was  caught  between  the  rail 
and  one  of  the  sleepers  in  some  curious  way. 
He  must  move  him  cautiously  or  he  would  do 
him  injury.  Far  below  was  the  river,  and  the 
boy  was  lying  half-way  across  the  bridge.  There 
was  but  a  single  track  here;  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  carry  him  to  one  end  or  the  other,  and 
the  train  was  coming.  There  was  no  chance 
that  the  engineer  would  see  him  in  time  to  stop, 
for  it  was  growing  dark  rapidly,  and  there  was  a 
curve  in  the  road  shortly  before  this  part  of  it 
was  reached.  Should  he  never  be  able  to  extri- 
cate the  boy's  foot? 


230  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

At  last  it  was  free.  Standing  on  the  narrow 
bridge  through  the  openings  of  which  the  river 
beneath  seemed  so  far  away,  and  with  the  puff  of 
the  engine  drawing  nearer  and  nearer,  Roger 
raised  the  lad  in  his  arms  and  then  ran  with  him 
to  the  farther  bank.  As  he  stepped  from  one 
end  of  the  bridge  the  train  reached  the  other, 
and  in  a  second  more  it  passed  him  as  he  stood 
by  the  track,  his  burden  in  his  arms. 

But  what  was  the  heart-rending  cry  which  sounded 
in  his  ears  as  the  train  rolled  by  ?  What  had  hap- 
pened ?  Roger  Madison,  strong  man  though  he  was, 
felt  almost  faint  at  the  thought.  Had  the  dog 
saved  his  master's  life  only  to  lose  his  own?  It 
could  not  be. 

But  it  was  so.  Sirius  had  not  stirred  from  Peter's 
side  until  he  saw  him  in  a  place  of  security ;  what 
happened  afterwards  no  one  ever  knew.  Probably 
in  his  ecstasy  at  the  boy's  safety  he  had  forgotten 
his  own  danger  and  jumped  back  upon  the  track ; 
but  whatever  the  cause,  the  train  passed  over  him. 
He  lost  his  life  in  saving  the  beloved  master  who 
had  once  rescued  him  from  a  cruel  death.  And 
who,  whether  dog  or  man,  can  ask  for  a  more  glori- 
ous end  than  this  ? 


PETER  MEETS   WITH  A    SERIOUS  ACCIDENT.       231 

In  the  meantime  Miss  Madison,  surmising  that 
something  serious  was  the  matter,  had  left  the 
canoe  drawn  up  upon  the  bank,  and  had  herself 
climbed  up  to  the  top.  She  reached  it  soon  after 
the  train  had  passed  and  found  her  brother  bending 
over  the  still  form  of  the  boy,  who  lay  by  the  side 
of  the  railroad. 

"  Who  do  you  suppose  it  is,  Margaret  ? "  said 
he.  "  We  had  better  take  him  to  the  Starrs'.  It  is 
the  nearest  house." 

"It  may  be  Peter  Starr,  Roger ! "  exclaimed 
Miss  Madison.  "  I  shouldn't  wonder  at  all  if  it 
were,  and  he  looks  something  like  them,  as  well 
as  I  can  see  in  this  light.  He  has  a  dog,  you 
know." 

"  He  has  one  no  longer,  then,"  said  Roger,  briefly. 
"  The  dog  is  dead." 

"  Roger,  how  terrible !  What  will  the  poor  boy 
say  ?  But  I  had  better  run  before  and  prepare 
them.  Roger,  are  you  sure  the  boy  is  alive?" 

But  even  as  she  spoke,  the  lad  stirred  slightly  and 
opened  his  eyes. 

"  Sirius,"  he  murmured  faintly ;  "  come  here,  sir!  " 
Then  he  lost  consciousness  again. 

"  It  is  Peter  Starr,"  said  Margaret.     "  The  dog's 


232  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

name  was  Sirius.  Follow  slowly,  Roger.  You 
must  give  me  time  to  prepare  them." 

She  ran  through  the  woods  which  bordered  on 
the  river  bank,  and  then  emerging  upon  the  open 
lawn,  she  hastened  towards  the  house.  Apparently 
the  family  were  at  supper,  for  no  one  was  to  be  seen. 
Miss  Madison  opened  the  front  door  without  cere- 
mony, and  greatly  to  the  astonishment  of  the  Starrs 
—  including  Mrs.  Ward  —  appeared  at  the  door  of 
the  dining-room. 

"  Is  your  brother  at  home  ? "  she  asked  breath- 
lessly. Though  she  tried  to  speak  calmly,  it  was 
easy  to  see  that  something  was  the  matter. 

"No,"  said  Honor,  "we  were  just  wondering  — 
Miss  Madison,  what  is  it  ?  "  She  pushed  back  her 
chair  and  rose  to  her  feet,  as  did  also  Katherine  and 
Victoria.  A  certainty  that  something  serious  had 
taken  place  filled  the  hearts  of  all. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  said  they  together. 

"  Don't  look  so  frightened,"  said  Miss  Madison. 
"  He  isn't  dead ;  he  is  only  hurt  a  little,  and  Roger  is 
bringing  him.  We  found  him.  See ;  they  are 
coming  now." 

They  looked  across  the  lawn,  and  saw  Roger 
Madison  moving  towards  the  house  with  a  burden 


PETER  MEETS   WITH  A   SERIOUS  ACCIDENT.       233 

in  his  arms.  Could  it  be  Peter  ?  Madison,  who 
was  tall  and  very  strong,  carried  him  as  easily  as  he 
would  have  carried  a  child  of  five,  although  Peter 
was  tall  for  his  age  and  was  no  light  weight. 

"  Some  one  get  a  bed  ready  for  him,"  said  Mar- 
garet, "  and  send  at  once  for  a  doctor.  In  the 
meantime  I  will  help  you.  I  know  a  little  about 
surgery." 

Honor  and  Katherine  had  run  to  meet  their 
brother,  but  Victoria  was  ready  to  do  what  she  was 
told. 

"  Aunt  Sophia,  please  send  Dave  Carney  for  the 
doctor,"  said  she.  "  He  is  in  the  kitchen,  I  think. 
I  will  go  upstairs." 

"  And  I  will  go  with  you,"  said  Miss  Madison. 

It  was  much  later  in  the  evening,  and  Peter  was 
now  quite  comfortable.  The  doctor  had  gone  after 
having  set  the  broken  leg  and  having  assured  the 
Starrs  that,  although  the  injury  was  serious,  there 
was  nothing  about  it  which  need  alarm  them.  The 
Madisons  went  home  after  the  doctor  came,  but 
Roger  intended  to  return  to  inquire  for  the  patient. 
As  yet,  nothing  had  been  said  about  the  fate  of 
Sirius.  Peter  had  been  asking  for  him  ever  since 


234  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

he  regained  consciousness,  and  his  sisters,  supposing 
the  dog  to  be  at  the  barn,  had  promised  to  give  him 
his  supper.  The  doctor  had  left  orders  that  Peter 
should  be  kept  very  quiet,  and  that  Sirius  should 
not  be  admitted  to  his  room. 

Honor  was  with  her  brother  now,  and  Katherine 
and  Victoria  were  in  their  aunt's  room.  She  had 
arrived  by  the  designated  train  that  afternoon, 
accompanied  by  her  maid,  her  canaries,  and  several 
trunks.  The  bustle  which  her  coming  had  caused 
had  scarcely  subsided  before  supper  was  announced, 
and  then  had  ensued  the  excitement  about  Peter. 
Now,  at  half-past  eight,  she  had  requested  the 
attendance  of  Katherine  and  Victoria  in  her  room 
while  she  unpacked  and  settled  herself  for  the 
summer. 

"  I  want  to  talk  over  your  affairs,"  said  she. 
"  Now  that  I  am  really  here  I  wish  to  be  right  in 
your  midst.  What  have  you  been  living  on  ?  How 
much  have  you  made  in  that  ridiculous  school  and 
those  senseless  violets  ?  Why  people  should  spend 
their  money  on  violets  I  can't  imagine.  They  only 
fade." 

"  Don't  you  think  we  had  better  wait  until  to- 
morrow ?  "  suggested  Victoria,  mildly,  as  she  watched 


PETER  MEETS   WITH  A   SERIOUS  ACCIDENT.       235 

her  aunt's  energetic  movements  about  the  room. 
Mrs.  Ward  had  made  it  clear  to  them  in  the  begin- 
ning that  she  wished  no  assistance  in  her  unpack- 
ing. 

"  Then  you  could  talk  to  Honor  about  it,"  con- 
tinued Victoria,  "  and  to-night  we  are  so  worried 
about  Peter." 

"  No  need  for  worry,"  rejoined  Mrs.  Wentworth 
Ward,  briskly.  "  The  boy  is  in  no  danger,  the 
doctor  said.  How  he  ever  got  into  such  a  pre- 
dicament I  can't  imagine.  If  your  friends  the 
Madisons  hadn't  happened  along  just  when  they 
did  —  " 

"  Oh,  Aunt  Sophia,  don't !  "  cried  Victoria.  "  It 
is  too  horrible  to  put  into  words.  How  can  we 
ever  thank  the  Madisons  enough ! " 

"  Do  you  know  how  they  happened  to  find 
him  ? " 

"  No,  we  haven't  heard,"  said  Victoria,  while 
Katherine  added : 

"  Mr.  Madison  said  he  would  come  back  later 
and  tell  us  all  about  it." 

"  Humph ! "  said  her  aunt,  looking  at  her 
shrewdly  while  she  shook  out  and  refolded  her 
garments.  "  Who  are  these  Madisons  ? " 


236  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  Very  nice  people,"  replied  Katherine,  with 
exaggerated  indifference. 

"  So  you  seem  to  find  them,  and  they  appar- 
ently take  an  active  part  in  your  household  af- 
fairs. I  was  amused  at  Miss  Madison !  Run- 
ning upstairs  without  ever  saying  'by  your  leave'! 
But  if  they  are  related  to  the  Roger  Madisons, 
they  are  all  that  one  would  wish." 

"  The  brother's  name  is  Roger,"  said  Victoria. 

"Oh,"  remarked  Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward,  "then 
I  have  nothing  to  say." 

"After  saving  Peter's  life  I  think  they  are  at 
liberty  to  do  anything  they  like,"  said  Katherine, 
with  the  asperity  which  intercourse  with  her  aunt 
never  failed  to  bring  to  the  surface.  "And  if  they 
were  not  the  Roger  Madisons,  what  would  you 
have  to  say,  Aunt  Sophia  ? " 

Victoria,  dreading  an  argument,  abruptly  turned 
the  conversation  by  introducing  the  matter  of  the 
typewriter.  It  was,  perhaps,  a  case  of  leaping 
from  the  frying-pan  into  the  fire,  but  she  felt 
that  anything  would  be  preferable  to  a  lengthy 
discussion  of  the  Madisons  between  her  aunt 
and  Katherine,  who  never,  under  any  circum- 
stances, were  known  to  agree,  and  who  each  pos- 


PETER  MEETS   WITH  A   SERIOUS  ACCIDENT.       237 

sessed  to  the  last  degree  the  power  of  irritating 
the  other. 

Sophy,  meanwhile,  had  been  shut  out  com- 
pletely both  from  Peter's  room  and  from  that  of 
her  aunt.  She  had  been  told  by  her  sisters  to 
go  to  bed,  but  as  they  had  failed  to  enforce  the 
command,  she  had  not  yet  obeyed  it.  Instead, 
she  wandered  disconsolately  over  the  house,  even 
seeking  Blanch  in  the  kitchen,  although  she  was 
not  a  favorite  with  the  child.  Sophy  was  dis- 
criminating, and  her  prejudices  were  strong. 

She  found  Blanch  engaged  in  a  spirited  discus- 
sion with  the  lately  arrived  maid  from  Beacon 
Street,  and  her  presence  was  so  completely  ig- 
nored by  them  both,  that  she  left  the  kitchen 
and  returned  to  the  main  part  of  the  house. 

Glancing  from  the  window  at  the  side  of  the 
front  door,  she  saw  Mr.  Madison  approaching,  and 
she  opened  the  door  and  gladly  welcomed  him. 

"  Won't  you  come  and  talk  to  me  ? "  she  said 
in  a  forlorn  little  voice.  "  I'm  all  alone.  I  can't 
go  to  Peter's  room,  and  I  can't  find  Sirius,  and 
Aunt  Sophia  doesn't  want  me.  Don't  you  think 
if  somebody  was  named  for  you,  you'd  like  to  have 
'em  in  your  room  when  you  were  unpacking  ? " 


238  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  Indeed  I  should !  "  said  Madison,  seating  him- 
self in  the  parlor,  while  Sophy  took  another  chair 
and  prepared  to  entertain  him,  after  the  manner, 
as  she  thought,  of  her  elder  sisters  when  they 
had  visitors. 

"And  Aunt  Sophia  is  unpacking,"  she  contin- 
ued, "  and  unpacking  is  such  a  very  interesting 
thing  to  watch.  I  think  she  is  asking  questions, 
too.  Aunt  Sophia  asks  a  great  many  questions. 
When  I  do,  the  girls  say  I'm  curious,  but  they 
can't  say  that  to  Aunt  Sophia." 

"  No,  scarcely !  "  said  Mr.  Madison,  who  was 
greatly  amused  with  his  small  hostess,  but  pre- 
served a  perfectly  straight  face. 

"  She  thinks  we  ought  to  live  with  her,  but  we 
don't  want  to.  We  would  rather  work  for  our  liv- 
ing, and  so  we  teach  school  and  give  music  lessons 
and  sell  mushrooms  and  violets,  and  once  Vic  went 
to  Boston  and  sold  some  gold  things  and  some  — 
oh,  but  I  forgot!  The  girls  told  me  not  to  tell 
anybody  that." 

"  No,"  said  Roger,  gravely  ;  "  you  had  better  not." 

"  Perhaps  when  we  get  to  know  you  very  well, 
we'll  tell  you  all  about  what  the  man  said  to  Vic, 
the  young  man  —  " 


PETER  MEETS   WITH  A   SERIOUS  ACCIDENT.       239 

"  Do  you  think  I  can  see  one  of  your  sisters  ?  " 
asked  he,  interrupting  her.  "  I  want  to  speak  about 
Peter,  and  —  well,  to  explain  to  them  how  I  hap- 
pened to  find  him.  Will  you  call  one  of  them? 
Tell  them  not  to  come  if  it  isn't  convenient,  though." 

Sophy,  going  upon  this  errand,  met  Victoria  on 
the  stairs. 

"  I  am  going  to  look  for  Sirius,  Sophy,"  said  she, 
quite  unconscious  that  some  one  was  in  the  parlor. 
"  It  is  strange  that  he  isn't  about  anywhere.  Have 
you  seen  him  ?  " 

As  she  spoke,  a  man's  figure  appeared  in  the 
doorway  of  the  parlor. 

"  I  want  to  tell  you  about  the  dog,"  said  Madison. 
"  I  didn't  have  a  chance  —  " 

To  his  surprise  the  girl  on  the  stairs  turned  and 
ran  up  again,  leaving  him  with  his  sentence  unfin- 
ished and  without  giving  him  a  word  of  apology. 
It  was  most  extraordinary  behavior,  Roger  thought. 
Unquestionably,  charming  as  the  Starr  sisters  were, 
there  was  one  among  them  who  was  peculiar.  It 
was  not  the  first  time  that  Victoria  had  acted  in  the 
unaccountable  fashion.  Indeed,  that  very  night, 
when  he  had  carried  Peter  to  his  room,  she  had  dis- 
appeared through  one  door  as  he  came  in  the  other. 


240  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

He  should  think  that  after  having  saved  her 
brother's  life,  she  might  treat  him  at  least  politely. 
However,  she  was  only  a  little  girl  of  fifteen,  he  said 
to  himself,  and  probably  knew  no  better  how  to 
behave.  It  was  strange,  though,  for  the  others 
were  undoubtedly  well  bred,  and  even  little  Sophy 
had  good  manners. 

He  was  about  to  leave  the  house,  too  proud  and 
too  indignant  to  ask  again  to  see  any  one,  when 
Katherine  came  down. 

"  Sophy  told  me  that  you  were  here,"  she  said, 
"  and  I  am  so  glad,  for  we  want  to  thank  you  for  all 
you  have  done.  Vic  is  so  upset  with  Peter's  acci- 
dent that  she  couldn't  come  down,  but  Honor  will 
be  here  in  a  moment.  Indeed,  we  cannot  thank 
you  enough  ! " 

And  then  Honor  came,  and  with  tears  in  her  eyes 
expressed  her  gratitude  for  what  he  had  done  for 
them.  Madison  described  to  them  how  and  where 
he  had  found  Peter,  Sophy  standing  by  his  chair 
and  drinking  in  every  word. 

"  Then  Sirius  really  saved  Peter's  life,"  said  she. 

"  Yes,  he  was  really  the  one ;  for  if  he  hadn't 
attracted  my  attention,  I  should  never  have  known 
that  he  was  there.  Sirius  was  a  brave,  good  dog." 


PETER  MEETS    WITH  A   SERIOUS  ACCIDENT.      241 

"  Dear  Sirius  !  "  said  Honor.  "  I  didn't  like  him 
when  he  first  came  here,  but  now  I  feel  as  if  I 
couldn't  do  enough  for  him." 

"  I  shall  buy  him  a  gold  collar  studded  with  dia- 
monds the  next  time  I  go  to  Boston,"  said  Katherine. 

"  Kathie  !  Will  you  really  ?  "  asked  Sophy. 
"  And  what  will  you  buy  for  Mr.  Madison  ?  " 

"  He  wouldn't  care  for  a  gold  collar,"  laughed 
Katherine.  "  We  shall  have  to  do  something  else 
for  him." 

"  We  cannot  thank  you  enough,"  said  Honor 
again,  very  gravely.  It  scarcely  seemed  right  to 
laugh  when  Peter  had  been  so  near  death,  and  she 
felt  that  this  debt  of  gratitude  to  Mr.  Madison  could 
never  be  repaid.  There  was  a  moment's  silence. 

"  Where  do  you  suppose  Sirius  is  ?  "  said  Sophy. 
"  We  haven't  seen  him  yet.  I  want  to  hug  him  for 
saving  my  only  brother  Peter." 

"  My  child,  you  will  never  see  Sirius  again,"  said 
Roger.  "He  lost  his  own  life  when  he  saved 
Peter's.  He  is  dead." 

Sophy  gazed  at  him  for  a  moment  in  speechless 
astonishment.  Then  she  buried  her  face  in  his  arm. 

"  Sirius  is  dead !  "  she  wailed.  "  Oh,  what  will 
Peter  say  ?  " 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

SOPHY    WAYLAYS    ROGER    MADISON 

OEVERAL  days  elapsed  before  they  dared  tell 
Peter  of  the  fate  of  Sirius.  The  doctor's 
orders  that  he  should  be  kept  very  quiet  must  be 
obeyed,  and  that  was  the  excuse  which  they  gave 
him  when  the  boy  begged  that  Sirius  might  come 
to  him. 

The  spring  days,  so  beautiful  in  themselves, 
seemed  to  have  brought  much  care  and  anxiety 
to  the  Starrs.  Honor  was  visibly  depressed,  but 
Katherine  had  her  music  with  Miss  Madison  to 
divert  her,  and  Victoria's  feelings,  whatever  they 
may  have  been,  she  was  careful  to  hide.  The 
presence  of  Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward  made  a  great 
change  in  the  household,  and  Peter's  accident  a 
still  more  serious  one. 

There  were  many  extra  steps  to  be  taken,  and 
sometimes  he  was  a  difficult  patient.  He  did  not 
mean  to  be  exacting,  but  he  felt  it  to  be  a  greater 

242 


SOPHY   WAYLAYS  ROGER  MADISON.  243 

trial  than  he  deserved,  to  be  kept  in  bed  with  a 
broken  leg  when  the  days  out  of  doors  were  so 
beautiful,  when  trees  and  grass  were  daily  grow- 
ing greener,  and  the  creatures  had  awakened 
from  their  winter's  nap,  when  "  the  time  of  the 
singing  of  birds  is  come,  and  the  voice  of  the 
turtle  is  heard  in  our  land." 

Peter  did  not  express  his  feelings  in  just  these 
words  perhaps,  but  the  thought  of  all  that  was 
beautiful  out  of  doors  made  him  restless  and  his 
pain  hard  to  bear. 

Honor  and  Katherine  divided  the  teaching 
hours,  one  remaining  with  Peter  while  the  other 
superintended  the  school.  The  spring  weather 
seemed  to  affect  the  pupils  also,  for  at  times 
they  became  quite  unmanageable.  Sometimes 
Honor  wondered  if  her  own  impatience  did  not 
react  upon  herself,  influencing  the  children  and 
making  them  more  or  less  refractory.  Whatever 
the  cause,  the  school  had  certainly  never  been  so 
irksome.  She  was  anxious,  too,  about  Mr.  Abbott. 
He  was  still  very  much  of  an  invalid,  and  they 
had  not  seen  him  for  several  months. 

In  addition  to  all  this,  Peter's  illness  would  be 
a  great  expense  to  them,  and  Honor  wondered 


244  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

how  they  should  meet  the  doctor's  bills.  She 
felt  almost  glad  that  her  aunt  was  at  Glen  Arden ; 
for,  in  spite  of  the  many  inconveniences  which 
her  presence  brought,  it  also  meant  an  increased 
income,  and  in  the  present  state  of  their  finances 
this  was  most  important.  To  be  sure,  Blanch, 
indignant  with  the  newcomer  in  the  kitchen,  had 
threatened  more  than  once  to  leave,  but  that 
was  one  of  the  smaller  vexations  which,  perhaps, 
could  be  avoided. 

The  thought  that  was  now  filling  the  hearts  of 
Peter's  sisters  with  dread,  was  the  fact  that  the 
time  was  rapidly  approaching  when  they  must 
tell  him  that  Sirius  was  dead.  Each  one  won- 
dered how  and  when  it  was  to  be  done  and  who 
should  be  the  one  to  do  it.  They  finally  decided 
upon  Victoria. 

And  so  with  an  anxious  heart,  one  afternoon 
Victoria  went  to  her  brother's  room.  She  knew 
that  she  should  have  no  difficulty  in  introducing 
the  subject,  for  Peter's  first  question  was  always 
in  regard  to  Sirius,  and  the  sisters  had  found  it 
almost  impossible  to  answer  him  without  arous- 
ing his  suspicions.  As  she  supposed  would  be 
the  case,  Victoria  had  scarcely  crossed  the  thresh- 


SOPHY   WAYLAYS  ROGER  MADISON.  245 

old  when  she  heard  her  brother's  somewhat  queru- 
lous voice. 

"  Vic,  where  is  Sirius  ?  It  does  seem  very 
hard  that  I  can't  see  my  own  dog.  He  wouldn't 
excite  me,  and  he  wouldn't  jump  on  the  bed  if 
I  told  him  not  to.  It  excites  me  a  great  deal 
more  not  to  see  him,  than  it  would  if  he  were 
here." 

"  I  know,  Peter  dear ! "  said  Victoria,  going 
to  the  bed  and  sitting  down  upon  the  edge  of 
it.  "  And  there  is  nothing  we  would  rather  do, 
than  bring  Sirius  to  you.  But  we  can't.  Will 
you  try  to  bear  it,  Peter,  when  I  tell  you  some- 
thing very  sad  ? " 

"  What  is  it,  Vic  ? "  exclaimed  Peter,  in  a  low 
voice.  "  I  know  what  you  are  going  to  say !  Is 
Sirius  dead  ?  " 

Victoria  nodded.  Peter  turned  his  face  towards 
the  wall. 

"  Please  go  away,"  he  said,  still  in  the  same  low 
voice,  and  Victoria  left  him. 

She  returned  in  a  short  time  to  find  him  still  in 
the  same  position.  When  she  spoke  to  him  he  did 
not  reply,  and  though  she  went  again  and  again,  it 
was  always  with  the  same  result. 


246  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  What  are  we  to  do  with  him  ? "  she  said  later  to 
her  sisters.  "  He  won't  speak,  and  he  just  lies  there 
with  his  face  turned  away.  If  he  would  only  cry 
about  it ! " 

"  Peter  won't  cry,"  said  Sophy.  "  He  thinks  it's 
babyish.  He  was  awful  fond  of  Sirius,  though. 
I've  seen  him  kiss  him  often,  on  the  top  of  his  head, 
and  he  never  likes  to  kiss  anybody  else.  Oh  dear, 
I  wish  I  could  do  something  to  make  him  feel 
better !  "  The  loving  little  sister's  eyes  filled  with 
tears,  and  she  hid  her  face  in  Honor's  shoulder. 

"  The  trouble  is,"  said  Victoria,  "  he  thinks  we're 
only  girls  and  so  he  won't  talk  to  us.  If  father 
were  here,  or  Mr.  Abbott,  it  would  be  better.  I 
really  believe  Peter  would  speak  to  them.  If  we 
only  had  somebody !  " 

It  was  unusual  for  Victoria's  courage  to  desert 
her,  but  it  had  all  been  very  sad  and  depressing. 
Peter's  accident  had  unnerved  her,  and  the  subse- 
quent dread  of  breaking  the  news  to  him,  and  then 
the  disclosure  itself,  had  been  more  of  a  strain  than 
she  realized. 

"  I  wish  we  had  an  older  brother ! "  she  said,  and 
then  greatly  to  the  surprise  of  the  others  she  too 
began  to  cry.  "  What  a  goose  I  am  ! "  she  sobbed. 


SOPHY   WAYLAYS  ROGER  MADISON.  24? 

"  But  I  do  feel  so  sorry  for  Peter  and  for  all  of  us, 
and  I  wish  he  would  speak  to  us." 

"  I  wonder  if  Mr.  Madison  would  come  and  talk 
to  him,"  suggested  Katherine. 

"  We  can't  ask  him  to,"  said  Honor,  quickly. 
"We  must  never  ask  him  to  do  a  thing.  He 
would  be  the  very  one,  I've  no  doubt,  for  Peter  likes 
him,  and  he  was  the  one  who  saved  his  life  and  was 
there  when  Sirius  was  killed,  but  it  would  never  do 
to  ask  him.  If  he  were  to  come  of  his  own  accord, 
it  would  be  different." 

"It  seems  a  great  pity,  then,  that  he  can't  know 
how  much  he  is  needed,"  said  Katherine.  "  He 
seems  to  be  the  kind  of  man  who  always  knows 
exactly  what  to  say,  and  he  is  so  good-natured  he 
wouldn't  mind  coming  a  bit.  Do  you  really  think, 
Honor,  that  it  wouldn't  do  to  ask  him  ?  " 

Honor  shook  her  head  very  decidedly. 

"  It  wouldn't  do  at  all,"  said  she. 

Sophy,  who  had  been  listening  attentively,  dried 
her  eyes.  She  was  extremely  disturbed  by  Victoria's 
emotion,  as  were  they  all.  It  was  so  unusual  to  see 
her  cry  that  Sophy  felt  that  something  very  serious 
must  be  the  matter.  The  little  girl  was  ready  to 
do  anything  to  make  her  happier  or  to  help  Peter. 


248  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

The  girls  all  said  that  to  talk  to  a  grown-up  man 
would  be  the  best  thing  for  Peter,  and  that  Mr. 
Madison  would  be  the  one  of  all  others.  Why  not 
get  Mr.  Madison,  then  ?  To  be  sure,  Honor  had 
said  that  he  must  not  be  asked,  but  perhaps  he  would 
come  without  being  asked  if  he  knew  that  Peter 
needed  him.  Sophy  felt  very  confident  that  Mr. 
Madison  was  a  kind-hearted  man,  and  if  he  were 
once  told  that  he  was  needed,  he  would  not  wait  to 
be  asked. 

She  tried  to  say  something  of  this  to  her  sisters, 
but  they  were  talking  to  each  other  and  endeavor- 
ing to  comfort  Victoria,  and  she  could  not  make 
them  hear,  so  she  determined  to  act  for  herself. 
She  heard  the  whistle  of  one  of  the  afternoon  trains 
as  it  left  the  junction  at  Waterview.  Perhaps  Mr. 
Madison  was  on  it ! 

Without  further  delay,  she  ran  downstairs  and 
out  the  front  door.  Like  a  young  squirrel  she 
scampered  across  the  lawn  and  along  the  grassy 
path  that  led  to  the  little  station,  arriving  there 
just  as  the  train  did.  One  passenger  only  left  it, 
and,  greatly  to  her  disappointment,  it  was  not  Mr. 
Madison. 

There  would   not   be  another   train   for  a   long 


SOPHY   WAYLAYS  ROGER  MADISON.  249 

time,  she  knew,  but  nevertheless  Sophy  determined 
to  wait  for  it.  She  was  afraid  that  if  she  went 
back  to  the  house,  something  or,  more  probably, 
somebody,  would  prevent  her  coming  again,  and 
she  had  made  up  her  mind  that  the  only  way  to 
secure  Mr.  Madison  was  to  meet  him  at  the  train. 
She  sat  down  on  the  edge  of  the  platform,  —  there 
was  no  house  here,  only  a  little  shed  at  which  the 
trains  stopped,  —  and  waited. 

The  sun,  which  was  warm  to-day,  shone  down 
upon  her,  the  soft  May  breezes  played  with  the 
daisies  that  had  sprung  up  about  the  railroad 
track,  little  birds  gathered  courage  from  her  still- 
ness, and  hopped  nearer  to  the  small  figure,  look- 
ing at  her  with  inquisitive  glances,  but  Sophy 
heeded  nothing.  Many  serious  thoughts  were 
passing  through  her  childish  mind  in  rapid  suc- 
cession. She  wondered  why  Sirius  had  to  die 
when  they  all  loved  him  so,  and  it  made  it  so  hard 
for  Peter.  She  wondered  if  there  was  anything 
in  the  world  that  she  could  do  to  make  Peter 
happier. 

And  Victoria !  She  was  so  surprised  to  see 
real  tears  on  Vic's  face.  Was  Vic  a  baby  to  cry, 
as  Peter  always  said  that  Sophy  was  ?  She  had 


250  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

never  seen  her  do  it  before  except  when  their 
father  died.  Then  everybody  had  cried.  Where 
was  her  father  now,  she  wondered  ?  Did  he  know 
they  were  all  so  sad  and  there  was  so  little  money  ? 
Where  had  he  gone,  and  where  had  they  come 
from  ?  How  strange  everything  was,  and  how 
puzzling !  Sophy  supposed  that  she  should  under- 
stand it  all  when  she  grew  up. 

In  the  meantime  she  wished  that  the  train 
would  come.  She  was  tired  of  waiting,  and  per- 
haps Vic  was  still  crying,  and  Peter  still  lying  so 
strangely  silent,  with  his  face  turned  away  from 
them,  as  they  went  one  by  one  to  express  their 
sympathy.  Would  the  train  never  come  ? 

And  at  last  it  did  come,  and,  to  her  intense 
relief,  Mr.  Madison  was  on  it.  He  was  the  only 
passenger  who  left  it,  and  he  was  greatly  surprised 
when  a  small  and  hatless  figure  danced  up  to  him 
and  seized  his  hand. 

"  I'm  so  glad  to  see  you ! "  cried  a  lisping  voice. 
"  I've  been  waiting  ever  and  ever  and  ever  so 
long !  "  Sophy's  face  looked  almost  pretty  in  her 
excitement.  "  I'm  not  going  to  ask  you  to  come," 
she  continued,  "  for  Honor  says  you  must  never 
be  asked  to  do  anything ;  but  we  want  a  grown-up 


SOPHY    WAYLAYS  ROGER  MADISON.  25  I 

man  so  dreadfully  to  talk  to  Peter.  Peter  won't 
say  anything,  and  he  knows  Sirius  is  dead.  He 
thinks  we're  only  girls,  and  if  you  were  only  our 
brother,  you  would  talk  to  him.  I  wish  you  were 
our  brother ! " 

"  But  even  if  I  am  not,  I  can  talk  to  Peter," 
said  Roger  Madison,  quickly,  "and  that  is  what 
you  would  like,  isn't  it  ? " 

"  Oh,  yes  !  "  exclaimed  Sophy ;  "  and  I  haven't 
asked  you,  have  I  ?  Honor  said,  you  know,  that 
you  must  never  be  asked  to  do  anything.  I  don't 
exactly  see  why  not.  I  wouldn't  mind  asking  you 
a  bit,  but  I  haven't,  have  I  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no  indeed !  I'm  coming  entirely  of  my 
own  free  will.  I  want  to  talk  to  Peter." 

"  How  lovely ! "  said  Sophy,  as,  with  her  hand 
tightly  clasped  in  his,  she  skipped  along  at  his 
side.  "  You  are  such  a  nice  man.  You  would 
make  a  lovely  brother.  You  see,  everything  was 
dreadful  this  afternoon,  and  Vic  really  cried ! " 

Sophy  said  this  with  the  air  of  imparting  a  most 
unheard-of  piece  of  news.  That  Vic  should  cry 
was  to  her  almost  as  important  as  Peter's  broken 
leg. 

"  Come    right    upstairs,"    said    she,    when    they 


252  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

reached  the  house.  "  Come  right  up  to  Peter's 
room." 

"  I  think  you  had  better  say  that  I  am  here," 
said  Madison,  hesitating. 

"  Oh,  why  ?  "  exclaimed  Sophy,  impatiently ;  but 
seeing  that  he  was  firm  in  regard  to  this,  she  ran 
upstairs  and  peeped  into  Peter's  room.  He  was 
still  lying  with  his  face  turned  away,  and  she  did 
not  look  far  enough  to  see  that  Victoria  was  sitting 
behind  the  door.  She  ran  down  again  as  quickly 
as  she  had  gone  up  and  once  more  grasped  Mr. 
Madison  by  the  hand. 

"It  is  all   right,"  she  said.     "Come  right  up." 

They  mounted  the  stairs,  and  still  hand  in  hand 
they  entered  Peter's  room. 

"  Peter,"  said  the  small  sister,  "  here's  a  grown- 
up man  come  to  see  you.  Here  is  Mr.  Madi- 
son." 

Peter  turned  his  head,  and  Sophy  gave  a  sigh 
of  relief.  He  had  actually  moved  and  was  looking 
at  them.  At  the  same  moment  an  exclamation  of 
surprise  came  from  some  one  else.  Victoria  rose 
to  her  feet  and  stood  for  a  moment  in  silence. 
She  gave  one  glance  at  Mr.  Madison,  and  then  her 
eyes  fell,  while  the  color  came  and  went  in  her 


SOPHY   WAYLAYS  ROGER  MADISON.  253 

cheeks.  She  looked  precisely  as  she  had  looked 
in  the  picture  shop  and  stood  in  almost  the  same 
attitude.  Madison  recognized  her  at  once,  and  he 
held  out  his  hand. 

"  I'm  glad  to  meet  you   again,"  he  said  simply. 

"  Please  don't  tell  any  one,"  said  Victoria.  "  No 
one  knows  it,  and  I've  tried  not  to  meet  you. 
Honor  wouldn't  like  it." 

"  Very  well,"  said  he,  gravely,  and  Victoria  could 
see  that  he  was  surprised  at  her  remark.  "  Just 
as  you  say,  of  course." 

Then  she  left  the  room,  wondering  if  she  had 
said  the  wrong  thing.  Was  it  what  Honor  would 
call  "  unconventional  "  ?  She  wished  that  she  had 
never  tried  to  hide  the  fact  that  she  had  met 
Roger  Madison  before.  It  was  such  a  little  thing 
in  itself,  and  yet  it  was  constantly  leading  her  to 
do  rude  and  peculiar  things.  This  was  certainly 
a  most  trying  afternoon,  and  again  Victoria  shut 
herself  into  her  room  and  cried,  and  though  Sophy 
came  more  than  once  and  rattled  the  handle  of  the 
door,  she  would  not  let  her  in. 

Sophy,  when  Mr.  Madison  was  safely  shut  into 
Peter's  room,  lost  no  time  in  making  known  the 
fact  to  her  sisters. 


254  A   SUCCESSFUL   VENTURE. 

"  Why,  Sophy !  "  exclaimed  Honor.  "  How  did 
he  happen  to  come  ? " 

"  I  met  him  at  the  station,"  said  she,  "  and  I  told 
him  we  wished  we  had  a  grown-up  man,  and  so  he 
said  he  would  come.  I  didn't  ask  him  to,  Honor. 
Really  and  truly  I  didn't  ask  him  to  come.  I  only 
said  we  needed  him." 

"  But,  Sophy  dear,  that  amounted  to  the  same 
thing,  and  don't  you  remember  that  I  said  we 
mustn't  ask  him.  I  wouldn't  have  had  you  do  it 
for  the  world." 

"  I  don't  see  why,  Honor.  You  asked  Miss 
Madison  to  come  the  other  day.  Why  can't  we 
ask  Mr.  Madison?" 

"  The  cases  are  very  different,"  said  Honor,  some- 
what severely,  "  and  you  ought  not  to  have  done 
what  I  told  you  not  to." 

"  Oh  dear  me,"  cried  Sophy,  tears  again  trem* 
bling  on  her  lashes,  "  I  only  wanted  to  make  Peter 
better,  and  I  didn't  really  ask  him  to  come !  I 
only  said  I  wished  he  was  our  brother,  for  then 
he'd  be  here." 

"  You  didn't  say  that,  surely,  Sophy !  "  exclaimed 
Katherine. 

"  Why,   yes !  "   said    Sophy,    surprise   at    Kathe- 


SOPHY   WAYLAYS  ROGER  MADISON.  2$$ 

rine's  vehemence  drying  her  tears.  "  Why  shouldn't 
I?" 

"  Never  mind,"  interposed  Honor.  "  It  is  too 
late  now,  but  another  time,  Sophy,  please  be  more 
careful  to  do  exactly  as  I  say.  Isn't  it  time  for 
you  to  go  to  your  music  lesson,  Katherine?  I  am 
going  to  Aunt  Sophia's  room  to  see  if  she  wants 
anything.  Come,  Sophy." 

But  Sophy  declined  to  accompany  her.  She 
sat  on  the  top  step  of  the  stairs,  waiting  for  Vic  to 
emerge  from  her  locked  room  or  for  Mr.  Madison 
to  leave  Peter.  She  thought  her  sisters  were  all 
very  peculiar  to-day.  She  had  heard  Victoria's 
remark  to  Mr.  Madison  and  she  wondered  what 
she  could  have  meant.  She  stored  it  away  in 
the  recesses  of  her  memory,  intending  to  ask  about 
it  when  a  convenient  opportunity  should  present 
itself. 

When  Roger  Madison  was  left  alone  with  Peter, 
he  quietly  closed  the  door,  and  drawing  up  the 
chair  which  Victoria  had  vacated  he  sat  down 
near  the  bed. 

"  I  am  sure  you  want  to  hear  all  about  your 
brave,  good  dog,"  said  he ;  "  and  so  I  have  come 
to  tell  you.  He  saved  his  master's  life  if  ever  a 


256  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

dog  did.  If  it  hadn't  been  for  him,  you  wouldn't 
be  lying  here  now.  Would  you  like  me  to  tell 
you  about  it  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Peter. 

And  then  Mr.  Madison  described  to  him  the 
scene  on  the  bridge. 

"  It  was  a  glorious  end  for  Sirius,"  said  he,  when 
he  had  finished.  "  I  know  you  feel  badly  enough 
about  losing  your  dog.  So  should  I.  Indeed,  I 
went  through  very  much  the  same  experience  my- 
self once,  when  I  was  a  little  younger  than  you 
—  no,  perhaps  about  your  age.  You  are  fourteen, 
aren't  you?  I  lost  a  dog  that  I  was  very  fond  of, 
and  if  it  hadn't  been  for  my  sister  I  should  have 
been  very  selfish  about  it.  She  showed  me  how 
I  ought  to  take  it." 

"  Oh,  it's  easy  for  girls  to  talk,"  said  Peter. 
"  They've  all  been  in  here  this  afternoon,  telling 
me  I  ought  to  bear  it,  and  make  the  best  of  it, 
and  all  that.  As  if  I  could  ever  get  over  losing 
Sirius,  the  best  dog  that  ever  lived !  It  is  ridicu- 
lous for  those  girls  to  talk  the  way  they  do." 

"My  dear  fellow,"  said  Roger  Madison,  "do  you 
know  that  you  are  a  very  lucky  fellow  to  have 
those  sisters?  I've  often  wondered  whether  you 


SOPHY    WAYLAYS  ROGER  Al AD  I  SON. 

appreciated  them.  I  have  one  sister,  and  I  wouldn't 
give  her  up  for  all  the  money  in  the  world. 
You  have  four,  so  you  ought  to  be  four  times  as 
grateful." 

"  For  four  sisters  ? "  said  Peter,  incredulously. 
"  They're  nice  enough,  of  course,  but  they  order 
a  fellow  round  too  much,  and  they  don't  under- 
stand. They  seem  to  think  I  oughtn't  to  mind 
about  Sirius  a  bit." 

"  I  don't  think  they  feel  that  way.  They  have 
been  very  much  worried  about  you,  and  they  have 
felt  pretty  badly,  I  can  tell  you,  about  Sirius's 
death  and  the  way  you  would  feel  it.  I  happen 
to  know  that,  and  I  also  know  that  your  sister 
Victoria  has  been  crying  about  it  this  afternoon." 

"Vic  crying?"  Peter  seemed  to  be  as  much 
impressed  by  this  fact  as  Sophy  had  been. 

"They  are  about  the  pluckiest  girls  that  I  ever 
knew,"  continued  Madison.  "  If  they  were  my 
sisters,  I  should  be  mighty  proud  of  them,  I  can 
tell  you.  I've  no  doubt  that  you  are  too,  and  are 
doing  all  you  can  to  help." 

"  There  is  nothing  I  can  do,"  said  Peter,  gloomily. 
"  Just  lying  here  and  looking  out  at  the  trees  and 
wishing  I  was  out  there.  And  I've  been  want- 


258  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

ing  Sirius  so  much  and  wishing  he  could  come 
to  me,  and  now  I'll  never  see  him  again."  He 
turned  his  face  away  as  he  had  done  before. 

"  Peter,"  said  his  friend,  "  I  like  you  and  I 
think  there's  good  stuff  in  you.  Here's  a  chance 
for  you  to  show  it.  You  can  be  a  hero  just  as 
much  as  Sirius  was,  though  in  a  very  different 
way.  You  have  a  good  deal  to  bear.  A  broken 
leg  is  no  small  matter,  and  the  loss  of  your  dog 
is  a  great  sorrow  to  you,  but  if  you  try  to  be 
brave  about  it  all,  and  try  to  make  things  easier 
for  your  sisters  while  you  are  laid  up  instead  of 
worrying  them  in  any  way,  I  think  you  will  be 
doing  a  good  deal.  I  know  it's  hard.  We  men 
are  not  very  patient,  and  we  don't  bear  pain  and 
discomfort  as  well  as  women  do.  Do  you  know 
that?" 

"  No,"  said  Peter,  scornfully ;  "  that  can't  be  !  " 

"  Indeed  it  is  so.  If  one  of  your  sisters  had 
broken  her  leg  and  were  lying  here,  she  would 
probably  be  three  times  as  patient  as  either  you 
or  I  should  be." 

"  Honor  or  Vic,  perhaps,"  remarked  Peter,  "  but 
not  Katherine." 

"  Well,  I'm  not  able  to  judge  of  that,  of  course, 


SOPHY   WAYLAYS  ROGER  MADISON.  2$() 

but  I  wish  you  would  show  that  our  sex  occasion- 
ally does  know  how  to  behave  under  trying  cir- 
cumstances. I  wish  you'd  do  your  best  to  be 
a  hero.  I  was  ill  once,  and  when  I  got  well,  they 
told  me  I  had  nearly  driven  them  all  crazy,  — 
I  was  so  impatient  and  exacting,  —  so  you  see  I 
don't  exactly  practise  what  I  preach.  But  that 
was  a  good  while  ago." 

"  I  wish  you'd  come  to  see  me  again,"  said  Peter, 
when  his  new  friend  rose  to  take  leave.  "  You 
may  say  that  girls  are  so  fine,  and  all  that,  but 
I'd  like  to  talk  to  you  once  in  a  while.  I  want 
to  ask  you  something.  I  think  I'll  ask  you  now. 
Don't  you  think  it's  pretty  mean  that  I'm  so  much 
younger  than  the  others,  and  that  the  girls  have 
to  work,  when  if  I'd  been  the  eldest  I  could  have 
taken  care  of  them  ?  " 

"  My  dear  boy,"  said  Roger  Madison,  "  depend 
upon  it,  you  are  placed  in  the  family  just  where 
you  are  most  needed.  God  knows  better  than  we 
do  about  such  things,  as  He  does  about  everything 
else,  and  He  intended  you  to  be  of  use  just  where 
you  are.  And  I  think  He  means  you  to  begin 
at  once  to  be  of  use ;  and  you  can  be  so  by  being 
as  brave  as  Sirius  was.  There  are  several  kinds 


260  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

of  courage  and  they  are  equally  good.  The  cour- 
age to  be  patient  and  cheerful  and  kind  when  you 
don't  feel  like  it  counts  for  as  much  in  the  eyes 
of  God  as  the  courage  which  saves  a  life.  I  don't 
often  talk  like  this,  but  I'm  interested  in  you, 
Peter,  and  I  want  you  to  be  the  man  I  think  you 
have  it  in  you  to  be.  Good-bye.  I'll  come  in 
again  to-morrow,  if  you  like." 


CHAPTER   XV. 

VICTORIA    MEETS    WITH    DIFFICULTIES. 

"IT  seems  to  me  that  you  are  not  as  proficient 
as  one  would  expect.  There  are  a  number 
of  mistakes  in  this  letter.  How  long  have  you 
been  using  the  typewriter,  Victoria  ? " 

"  Not  very  long,  Aunt  Sophia." 

"But  how  long?" 

"  A  few  —  at  least,  some  weeks." 

"  Weeks  ?  I  supposed  that  you  had  owned  one 
for  months.  In  fact,  it  has  never  been  explained 
to  me  where  you  got  it  nor  how  you  happened 
to  get  it.  Who  bought  the  typewriter  ? ' 

"Er  —  we  did." 

"  But  which  one  of  you  ?  I  am  under  the  im- 
pression that  it  belongs  to  Katherine.  Am  I 
right?  Did  she  buy  it?" 

There  was  no  reply.  The  aunt  and  niece  were 
in  Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward's  room  this  afternoon 
in  June,  engaged  with  the  correspondence  of  the 
latter.  It  was  a  beautiful  day,  and  Victoria  longed 

261 


262  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

to  be  out  of  doors.  She  had  watched  Katherine 
go  across  the  lawn  with  her  music-roll  under  her 
arm,  and  she  knew  that  she  was  going  to  the 
house  on  the  hill  to  read  music  with  Miss  Madi- 
son. Honor  was  sitting  under  the  trees  with 
Sophy  and  Peter,  who  was  able  now  to  be  out 
of  doors,  lying  stretched  out  in  a  steamer  chair. 
Victoria  alone  was  in  the  house  this  golden  after- 
noon ;  and,  anxious  though  she  was  to  finish  her 
task  and  be  off,  —  no  doubt  for  that  very  reason, 
—  she  had  never  worked  so  slowly.  Her  mistakes 
were  innumerable,  and  several  times  she  had  been 
obliged  to  rewrite  a  note  because  of  her  aunt's 
dissatisfaction  with  its  appearance. 

"  Which  one  of  you  bought  the  typewriter  ? " 
repeated  Mrs.  Ward. 

"  Why  do  you  want  to  know,  Aunt  Sophia  ? " 

"  I  have  my  reasons.     Who  bought  it  ?  " 

"Katherine  did." 

"  Ah,  I  thought  so !  I  was  sure  that  Honor  told 
me  so.  And  why  does  not  Katherine  use  it  ?  " 

"She  has  so  much  else  to  do." 

"  And  yet  she  seems  to  have  time  to  go  to  the 
Madisons'  almost,  if  not  quite  every  day.  Kathe- 
rine is  selfish." 


VICTORIA   MEETS    WITH  DIFFICULTIES.  263 

"Oh,  Aunt  Sophia,  I  don't  think  so!" 

"  You  may  not  think  so,  but  that  does  not  alter 
the  facts.  She  is  both  selfish  and  extravagant — two 
serious  faults.  It  is  well  for  all  of  you  that  she  is 
in  a  fair  way  to  make  a  good  match,  but  I  am  sorry 
for  the  young  man." 

"  Why,  Aunt  Sophia,  what  do  you  mean  ? "  asked 
Victoria,  gazing  at  her  aunt  in  surprise. 

"  My  dear,  you  must  see  for  yourself  what  I 
mean.  I  shall  say  no  more,  but  it  is  a  self-evident 
fact.  I  will  talk  to  Honor  about  it.  There  is 
nothing  to  be  said  against  his  family,  and  he  seems 
to  be  a  very  nice  young  man, — good  manners,  good- 
looking,  and  all  that,  but  Katherine  is  very  young." 

"Young!  I  should  think  so,"  said  Victoria,  in- 
dignantly. "  Katherine  hasn't  an  idea  of  anything 
of  the  kind,  and  I  don't  see  why  it  should  ever 
have  occurred  to  you,  Aunt  Sophia.  Can't  people, 
men  and  women,  I  mean,  be  good  friends  without 
that  beinor  thought  of  ? " 

O  O 

"  Very  seldom,  my  dear.  But  why  you  should 
be  so  disturbed  by  my  remarks  I  cannot  imagine. 
Your  cheeks  are  flushed,  and  your  eyes  are  like 
saucers.  One  would  think  that  I  had  suggested 
something  quite  unusual  and  very  much  to  be 


264  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

dreaded,  instead  of  an  event  which  would  be  most 
desirable  in  every  way." 

"  I  don't  think  it  would  be  desirable  at  all ! "  ex- 
claimed Victoria.  "  Excuse  me,  Aunt  Sophia,  for 
contradicting  you,  but  I  can't  help  it.  It  would 
be  perfectly  hateful  to  have  either  Honor  or  Kath- 
erine  married,  and  to  Mr.  Madison  of  all  people. 
Oh,  it  couldn't  possibly  be ! " 

"  But  why  not,  Victoria  ?  Why  have  you  such 
an  aversion  for  Mr.  Madison  ? " 

"  Oh,  because,"  said  Victoria,  breaking  down 
somewhat  lamely.  "  I  don't  want  them  to  marry 
any  one.  I  wish  you  hadn't  told  me.  Not  that  I 
think  there  is  anything  in  it  at  all,  but  —  but  it 
just  makes  me  think  about  it." 

"  I  most  sincerely  wish  I  had  not,"  rejoined  Mrs. 
Wentworth  Ward.  "  It  has  quite  prevented  your 
being  of  any  further  assistance  to  me  this  after- 
noon, and  we  may  as  well  lay  aside  these  other 
papers.  You  are  usually  so  sensible  that  I  sup- 
posed you  would  be  so  in  this  case.  It  is  quite 
absurd  for  you  to  become  so  excited.  There  is 
another  question  that  I  wish  to  speak  about  to 
one  of  you,  but  I  will  wait  until  I  see  Honor.  She 
is  the  proper  one." 


VICTORIA   MEETS    WITH  DIFFICULTIES.  26$ 

"Won't  I  do,  Aunt  Sophia?" 

Victoria  was  sorry  that  she  had  allowed  her  ex- 
citement to  run  away  with  her.  If  it  had  been 
any  one  but  Roger  Madison  whom  her  aunt  had 
suggested  as  a  possible  husband  for  Katherine,  she 
could  have  borne  it  better,  but  try  as  she  would, 
and  much  as  she  really  liked  the  young  man, 
she  could  not  overcome  the  feeling  that  she  had 
about  him  in  regard  to  the  sale  of  the  etch- 
ings. 

That  affair  had  assumed  astounding  proportions 
in  her  mind.  From  constant  brooding  over  it 
without  imparting  the  facts  of  the  case  to  any  one 
else,  she  had  greatly  exaggerated  their  importance. 
It  seemed  to  her  out  of  the  question  that  Kathe- 
rine should  be  allowed  to  become  engaged  while 
in  ignorance  of  it,  and  in  that  event,  Honor  too 
should  be  told,  and  yet  after  her  long  silence  she 
dreaded  speaking  of  it.  She  wished  that  she  could 
ask  the  advice  of  some  one  else,  some  older  person, 
but  there  was  no  one.  If  it  were  upon  any  other 
subject,  she  would  go  at  once  to  Miss  Madison, 
she  thought,  who  was  so  kind  and  friendly,  but 
under  the  circumstances  of  course  that  was  out 
of  the  question. 


266  A   SUCCESSFUL   VENTURE. 

Even  though  Victoria  and  Roger  Madison 
had  met  that  afternoon  in  Peter's  room,  she  had 
tried  since  to  avoid  him.  This  was  not  easy,  for 
he  came  to  the  house  very  frequently,  ostensibly 
to  see  Peter.  Was  it  really  to  see  Katherine  ? 
She  wondered  what  other  alarming  news  her  Aunt 
Sophia  might  have  to  disclose.  Something  disa- 
greeable, she  had  no  doubt,  and  she  would  try 
to  save  Honor  from  hearing  it. 

"  I  hope  you  will  tell  me,"  she  said,  as  she 
watched  her  aunt  fold  up  the  unanswered  letters, 
replace  them  in  their  envelopes,  and  lay  them 
away  in  the  proper  pigeon-hole  in  her  desk.  "  I 
will  try  not  to  be  so  excited  over  this,  but  the 
other  was  such  a  surprise." 

"  I  have  no  doubt  this  will  be  also,"  said  Mrs. 
Wentworth  Ward,  "  and  probably  you  will  take 
up  the  cudgels  in  defence  of  the  young  man  just 
as  violently  as  you  have  scouted  the  idea  of 
Katherine's  plans." 

"  Her  plans  ?  And  what  young  man  ?  Are 
you  again  speaking  of  Mr.  Madison  ? " 

"  Not  by  any  means.  I  am  speaking  of  the 
young  man  who  attends  to  so  much  of  your  gar- 
dening, and  who,  as  far  as  I  can  make  out,  has 


VICTORIA  MEETS    WITH  DIFFICULTIES.  267 

more  confidence  reposed  in  him,  than  any  one 
else  who  comes  to  Glen  Arden.  I  mean  David." 

"  David  ?  Dave  Carney  ?  Why,  Aunt  Sophia, 
what  is  the  trouble  about  him?  We  have  always 
found  him  so  satisfactory." 

"  Exactly  so,  and  therefore  you  have  never 
taken  the  trouble  to  find  out  anything  else  about 
him.  Where  did  you  get  him  in  the  first  place?" 

"  Peter  met  him  in  Fordham,  and  brought  him 
home." 

"  And  do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  is  all  you 
know  about  him  ?  Did  you  look  up  his  refer- 
ences ? " 

"  No-o,  I  don't  think  so  —  at  least,  I'm  not 
sure.  Honor  attends  to  all  such  things.  But 
why,  Aunt  Sophia  ?  What  makes  you  ask  ?  " 

"  I  have  reason  to  suspect  him,"  said  Mrs. 
Wentworth  Ward.  "  When  I  was  in  Boston  yes- 
terday I  saw  him,  or  some  one  who  closely  resem- 
bled him,  going  into  a  pawnbroker's  shop,  and 
since  then  I  have  questioned  Ellen  Higgins." 

Ellen  Higgins  was  Mrs.  Ward's  maid  whom 
she  had  brought  with  her  to  Glen  Arden. 

"  And  what  does  she  say  ? "  asked  Victoria. 
She  did  not  fancy  Ellen  herself,  and  since  her 


268  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

advent  there  had  been  endless  trouble  in  the 
kitchen. 

"  She  does  not  like  him,  and  she  thinks  you 
trust  him  entirely  too  much." 

Victoria  felt  like  replying,  "  I  wish  Ellen  Hig- 
gins  would  mind  her  own  business,"  but  she  re- 
strained herself.  Instead  she  remarked: 

"  We  all  like  Dave  Carney,  and  we  have  found 
him  very  satisfactory,  but  I  think,  after  all,  that 
Honor  is  the  one  for  you  to  speak  to-  about  him. 
And  now  if  you  will  excuse  me,  I  will  go  —  that 
is,  if  you  have  quite  finished  with  the  work." 

"  I  have  finished  because  you  were  doing  it  so 
badly,"  said  her  aunt.  "  I  am  ashamed  to  send 
such  miserable  typewriting  as  you  did  this  after- 
noon." 

"  Why  not  let  me  write  the  letters  over  with  a 
pen,  Aunt  Sophia  ?  I  write  a  very  clear  hand, 
you  know." 

"  I  prefer  the  typewriter  for  many  reasons,  and 
as  you  own  one,  you  should  be  able  to  make  use 
of  it,  even  if  Katherine  was  the  one  to  buy  it.  I 
am  astonished  at  you  all.  You  are  very  head- 
strong. Now  you  may  go." 

And  Victoria  quickly  took  her  departure. 


SHE  FOUND    HER   ELDEST  SISTER    SITTING  ON  A  RUSTIC  BENCH,  UNDER  THE  TREES, 
WITH  HER  WORK  IN  HER  HANDS." 


VICTORIA   MEETS    WITH  DIFFICULTIES.  269 

Her  mind  was  filled  with  the  new  ideas  presented 
to  her,  but  she  found  time  to  wonder  why  her  aunt 
was  not  willing  to  have  her  notes  and  various  docu- 
ments written  in  a  good  clear  hand  with  a  pen, 
instead  of  insisting  upon  having  them  typewritten. 
But  such  a  question  was  of  minor  importance,  she 
thought,  as  she  ran  downstairs  and  across  the  lawn. 
Even  if  she  could  not  tell  Honor  what  was  troub- 
ling her  about  Katherine,  it  would  be  a  comfort  to 
be  near  her. 

She  had  two  secrets  now  to  keep  from  her  sis- 
ters, and  strangely  enough,  they  were  both  con- 
nected with  Roger  Madison.  Victoria  felt  that 
life  had  become  very  complicated  within  the  last 
few  months. 

She  found  her  eldest  sister  sitting  on  a  rustic 
bench  under  the  trees,  with  her  work  in  her  hands. 
She  was  making  a  dress  for  Sophy,  who  was  play- 
ing with  her  doll,  but  who  was  so  deeply  interested 
in  Peter's  occupation  that  the  doll  was  frequently 
neglected. 

Peter  was  lying  back  in  his  chair  while  he  held 
an  opera-glass  to  his  -eyes  and  gazed  up  into  the 
branches  of  the  tree  above  him.  No  one  had 
spoken  for  some  time,  and  when  Victoria  drew  near, 


2/0  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

her  brother  held  up  his  hand  with  a  gesture  of 
warning. 

"  Hush!  "  he  whispered. 

Victoria  sank  quietly  upon  the  grass  and  waited. 
It  gave  her  time  to  think  over  her  aunt's  disturbing 
speeches,  and  for  this  she  was  not  sorry. 

The  silence  lasted  for  some  minutes,  and  then 
Peter  put  down  his  glass. 

"  It's  a  robin's  nest,"  said  he.  "  I  thought  it  was, 
from  the  shape.  I  bet  if  we  could  see  into  it,  we'd 
find  it  was  lined  with  mud.  Robins'  nests  always 
are.  The  young  ones  are  getting  quite  big,  and 
one  is  terribly  greedy  when  the  old  ones  come.  I 
daresay  it  is  a  cowbird." 

"  But  you  said  they  were  robins,  Peter,"  said 
Sophy. 

"  I  know  I  did,  but  that  doesn't  prevent  a  cowbird 
being  there  too,  does  it?  That  is  just  what  those 
hateful  cowbirds  do.  They  are  too  lazy  to  build 
nests  of  their  own,  but  they  go  and  lay  their  eggs 
in  other  birds'  nests  whenever  they  get  a  chance, 
and  never  go  near  them  again.  Then  the  cowbird's 
egg  gets  hatched  with  the  robin's  or  the  catbird's 
eggs,  or  whatever  nest  it  happens  to  have  been 
laid  in,  and  the  little  cowbird  is  awfully  greedy  and 


VICTORIA   MEETS    WITH  DIFFICULTIES.  2jl 

snatches  all  the  food,  and  grows  up  to  be  just  like 
its  parents.  Oh,  they  are  hateful  birds !  I  was 
reading  about  them  to-day  in  a  book  Mr.  Madison 
lent  me  on  birds.  It  said  there  that  no  self-re- 
specting American  bird  will  have  anything  to  do 
with  cowbirds.  English  sparrows  are  the  only 
birds  that  will  2^0  with  them.  I  thought  that  was 

o  o 

pretty  good,  for  every  one  knows  that  an  English 
sparrow  hasn't  much  self-respect.  I'm  sure  that  is 
a  cowbird  up  there,  poking  its  head  so  far  out  and 
snatching,  every  time  the  old  robins  come  with  the 
worms." 

"  Oh,  Peter,  I  wish  you  would  let  me  look  !  "  said 
Sophy,  in  pleading  tones. 

Peter  hesitated.  He  was  very  much  interested 
in  the  proceedings  in  the  tree;  the  opera-glass  was 
adjusted  to  exactly  the  right  point  for  his  eyes,  and 
in  all  probability  Sophy  would  move  it  —  she  always 
did.  Then,  again,  Sophy  would  never  be  able  to 
locate  the  nest,  and  much  valuable  time  would  be 
wasted  for  nothing. 

He  was  about  to  refuse  her  request  when  a  new 
idea  occurred  to  him.  After  all,  it  was  not  much 
to  do  for  Sophy,  who  had  been  so  devoted  to  him 
ever  since  his  accident.  She  had  run  up  and  down 


272  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

stairs  for  him  forty  times  a  day.  In  fact,  she  had 
gone  to  the  house  a  short  time  ago  when  he 
had  expressed  a  wish  for  the  opera-glass,  and  had 
brought  it  to  him,  and  again  for  a  book  on  birds. 
She  never  refused  to  do  what  he  asked ;  on  the 
contrary,  she  was  eager  to  please  him. 

Peter  handed  her  the  glass. 

"  Look  right  up  the  trunk  of  the  tree,  Soph,"  he 
said  kindly,  "  till  you  get  to  the  second  branch  from 
the  top  to  the  right,  and  a  little  way  along  that, 
leaning  up  against  a  small  branch  that  isn't  much 
more  than  a  twig,  is  the  robin's  nest.  Do  you  see  ? 
With  all  those  heads  sticking  out.  They're  getting 
hungry,  I  guess,  for  the  old  birds  haven't  been  back 
for  ten  minutes  at  least.  They  hear  us  talking,  I 
suppose,  and  are  afraid  to  come.  Keep  very  quiet, 
now,  if  you've  found  the  nest,  and  watch." 

Sophy,  greatly  pleased,  peered  up  into  the  tree 
and  waited.  She  had  scarcely  dared  hope  that 
Peter  would  allow  her  to  look,  and  her  heart  was 
filled  with  an  overpowering  love  for  the  brother  who 
was  so  good  to  her. 

It  was  a  little  thing  for  him  to  do,  perhaps,  but 
Peter  felt  happier  than  if  he  had  declined  to  point 
out  the  nest  to  Sophy,  and  even  though  it  did  take 


VICTORIA   MEETS    WITH  DIFFICULTIES. 

her  a  long  time  to  find  it,  and  though  she  turned 
the  screw  to  and  fro  in  her  efforts  to  see  better, 
and  retained  possession  of  the  glass  for  at  least  ten 
minutes,  he  was  glad  on  the  whole  that  he  had  lent 
it  to  her. 

Victoria  sat  upon  the  grass,  absent-mindedly  pok- 
ing a  hole  in  the  ground  with  a  bit  of  stick  that  she 
had  found,  and  thinking  about  the  very  disturbing 
topic  that  had  been  suggested  to  her  by  her  aunt. 
She  did  not  pay  much  attention  to  the  remarks 
about  Dave  Carney,  for  she  considered  her  aunt 
a  very  prejudiced  person  who  had  objected  to  the 
boy's  presence  at  Glen  Arden  from  the  first. 

The  news  about  Katherine  was  far  more  alarm- 
ing, and  while  she  thought  about  it  the  sound  of 
voices  was  heard  in  the  distance,  and  the  very  per- 
sons of  whom  she  was  thinking  were  seen  coming 
down  the  avenue  towards  the  group  under  the  trees. 

"  Dear  me,"  exclaimed  Peter,  impatiently,  "  here 
they  all  come!  Now  I  shall  have  no  chance  at  the 
birds  at  all.  Mr.  Madison  is  an  awfully  good  fellow, 
but  I  wish  he  had  stayed  away  this  afternoon." 

Victoria's  glance  chanced  to  rest  upon  Honor  at 
this  moment,  and  she  was  surprised  to  see  a  peculiar 
expression  cross  her  face  and  the  color  deepen  in 


274  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

her  cheeks.  She  wondered  if  Aunt  Sophia's  absurd 
ideas  about  Katherine  and  Roger  Madison  could 
possibly  have  occurred  to  her  as  well.  In  that 
case,  perhaps  they  were  not  so  absurd.  She  really 
thought  she  must  talk  to  Honor  about  it  that  very 
night.  There  could  be  no  harm  in  doing  so,  and 
she  felt  that  she  was  incapable  of  bearing  the  bur- 
den of  two  secrets. 

In  the  meantime  there  was  no  necessity  for  stay- 
ing where  she  was  if  Roger  Madison  were  coming, 
so  Victoria  rose  at  their  approach,  and  waving  her 
hand  to  them  walked  back  to  the  house. 

"  Why  does  your  sister,  Victoria,  always  run 
away  from  us  ? "  said  Miss  Madison,  as  she  seated 
herself  beside  Honor.  "  I  like  her  so  much,  and  I 
wish  I  could  see  more  of  her." 

"  She  doesn't  run  away  from  you''  said  Sophy 
before  Honor  could  reply.  Miss  Madison  as  well 
as  her  brother  was  a  great  favorite  with  the  child, 
and  she  would  have  liked  to  gaze  for  hours  at  the 
beautiful  face  had  her  sisters  not  admonished  her 
so  frequently  for  staring. 

"  It's  your  brother,"  she  added. 

"  But  why  my  brother  ? "  said  Miss  Madison  in 
surprise. 


VICTORIA   MEETS    WITH  DIFFICULTIES. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  the  truthful  Sophy,  "  but 
ever  since  you  came  I've  noticed  that  Vic  ran  away 
from  your  brother,  and  the  other  day  when  she  was 
in  Peter's  room  and  didn't  know  he  was  coming 
and  I  brought  him  in,  Vic  said :  '  Don't  tell  any  one. 
I've  tried  not  to  meet  you.  Nobody  knows  it.'  I 
asked  her  afterwards  what  she  meant,  and  she 
wouldn't  tell  me." 

"  Why,  Sophy,  what  are  you  talking  about  ? " 
asked  Honor. 

"  Mr.  Madison  knows,  don't  you  ?  "  said  the  child, 
turning  to  him.  "  Will  you  tell  me  what  Vic 
meant  ? " 

"  Certainly  not,  if  Miss  Victoria  won't  tell  you 
herself,"  said  he ;  "I  think  you  must  ask  her. 
Did  you  see  the  bird's  nest  ? " 

"  Yes,  I  did,"  said  Sophy,  nodding  her  head 
wisely,  "  but  you  are  only  trying  to  get  out  of  tell- 
ing me  by  changing  the  subject.  We  weren't  talk- 
ing about  birds." 

"  But  we  will  talk  about  them  now,  Sophy,"  said 
Honor,  quietly,  while  she  wondered  what  the  child 
could  mean.  "  We  have  been  studying  birds  all 
the  afternoon,  Mr.  Madison,  and  there  are  several 
questions  that  I  know  Peter  wants  to  ask  you." 


2/6  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

But  Honor  determined  to  speak  to  Victoria  that 
very  night,  for  she  too  had  noticed  her  peculiar  con- 
duct, so  unlike  Vic's  usual  open  and  cordial  man- 
ner. There  must  be  some  reason  for  it,  and  Honor 
would  have  questioned  her  about  it  before  this  had 
there  not  been  so  many  other  things  to  occupy 
their  minds. 

It  was  a  beautiful  evening,  and  after  supper  the 
family  sat  on  the  piazza  while  the  twilight  deep- 
ened after  the  long  June  day,  and  in  time  the  light 
of  the  moon  made  itself  felt,  and  shone  down 
upon  the  lawn  where  the  trees  cast  such  strange 
shadows. 

Peter  lay  in  the  hammock  until  his  bedtime,  and 
after  he  and  Sophy  had  gone  upstairs  and  Mrs. 
Ward  into  the  house  to  establish  herself  with  her 
book  by  the  parlor  lamp,  with  the  remark  that  she 
had  no  time  to  waste  in  moon  gazing,  the  three  sis- 
ters were  left  alone. 

Victoria,  who  was  anxious  to  speak  with  Honor, 
wished  that  there  was  something  which  would  take 
Katherine  into  the  house  or  elsewhere,  that  she 
might  have  the  desired  opportunity,  for  her  words 
were  meant  for  Honor's  ears  alone. 

Honor,   while    equally   desirous   of   speaking   to 


VICTORIA   MEETS    WITH  DIFFICULTIES.  2^^ 

Victoria,  was  perfectly  willing  to  do  so  in  Kath- 
erine's  presence.  The  three  had  always  been  in 
the  habit  of  talking  freely  together,  and  so  Honor 
opened  the  subject  at  once. 

"  Why  do  you  always  try  to  avoid  the  Madisons, 
Vic  ?  "  said  she,  suddenly. 

Victoria  started  guiltily.  How  strange,  she 
thought,  that  Honor  should  have  pounced  upon 
the  very  topic  that  was  occupying  her  mind. 

"  Do  I  ?  "  said  she.  It  was  a  difficult  matter  for 
Victoria  to  attempt  evasion. 

"  Yes.  You  know  you  do.  There  must  be  some 
reason  for  it.  We  have  all  noticed  it,  and  Miss 
Madison  spoke  of  it  this  afternoon." 

"  I  don't  try  to  avoid  her''  said  Victoria. 

"  No,  we  know  that,"  said  Katherine,  "  but  you 
do  avoid  Roger,  and  it  is  very  strange." 

"  Roger !  Do  you  call  him  Roger  ?  "  asked  Vic- 
toria, somewhat  icily. 

"  Oh,  no,  of  course  not  to  his  face,"  rejoined 
Katherine,  impatiently,  "  but  I  hear  his  sister  speak 
of  him  so  often  that  I  did  it  then  without 
thinking." 

"  I  don't  think  you  ought  to,"  said  Honor. 
"You  might  do  it  without  thinking  before  him." 


278  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  You  must  think  I  am  very  stupid,"  laughed 
Katherine,  "  and  I  am  not  quite  so  ignorant  of  the 
ways  of  the  world  as  all  that !  Honor,  you  are  too 
funny  about  Roger  Mad  —  I  mean,  Mr.  Madison, 
begging  all  your  pardons !  He  is  so  nice  and  jolly, 
and  sings  so  well,  but  you  never  will  go  there  much, 
and  Vic  is  still  queerer.  Come  now,  Vicky,  and 
tell  us  why  you  run  away  from  him." 

"  I  can't  tell  you  anything,"  replied  Victoria,  in  a 
somewhat  stifled  voice.'  "  I  wish  you  wouldn't  ask 
me  such  unnecessary  questions." 

"  They  are  not  unnecessary,  dear,"  said  Honor, 
gently.  "  If  you  have  any  reason  for  doing  it,  you 
really  ought  to  tell  us.  When  it  reaches  such  a 
pass  that  even  little  Sophy  speaks  of  it,  and  re- 
peated before  us  all  this  afternoon  what  you  said  to 
Mr.  Madison  the  day  you  met  him  in  Peter's  room, 
I  really  think  you  ought  to  explain." 

"  Did  Sophy  do  that  ? "  exclaimed  Victoria. 
"What  did  she  say?" 

"  That  you  begged  Mr.  Madison  not  to  tell  any 
one,  and  that  you  had  tried  not  to  meet  him,  and 
that  no  one  knew  it.  It  is  certainly  very  mysteri- 
ous, Vic,  and  I  think  you  ought  to  tell  us." 

Victoria,  sitting  on  the  steps  with  her  white  dress 


VICTORIA   MEETS   WITH  DIFFICULTIES.  2/9 

gleaming  in  the  moonlight,  was  silent.  She  would 
like  to  tell  them  the  whole  story.  Should  she  do 
so  ?  But  then,  if  Katherine  —  she  stopped  short, 
even  in  her  thoughts.  She  wished  that  her  Aunt 
Sophia  had  never  presented  so  disagreeable  an  idea 
to  her  imagination. 

Should  she  tell  them,  or  should  she  not  ?  It 
would  be  a  distinct  relief  to  talk  it  over  with  them, 
and  to  feel  free  at  last  from  the  burden  of  a  secret. 
She  was  about  to  speak  when  Katherine  motioned 
to  her  to  be  silent. 

"  Wait  a  minute,"  Katherine  said  in  a  whisper. 
She  had  been  watching  intently  the  clump  of  trees 
and  shrubbery,  near  the  side  of  the  house,  which  sep- 
arated them  from  the  flower  garden.  "  I'm  sure  I 
heard  something  or  somebody  moving,  and  I  thought 
I  saw  the  shadow  of  a  man.  Who  can  it  be  ?  " 

"  Let's  go  find  out,"  said  Victoria,  promptly,  glad 
to  have  the  matter  decided  for  her  and  the  subject 
changed.  "  It  was  probably  a  night-hawk  or  an 
owl.  It  couldn't  be  a  man,  Katherine  !  " 

The  three  went  around  the  corner  of  the  house 
and  walked  about  among  the  shrubbery.  No  thought 
of  fear  entered  their  minds. 

"  It  is  nothing,  after  all,"  said  Katherine  at  last. 


280  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  I  must  have  been  mistaken,  but  it  was  exactly  like 
the  shadow  of  a  man." 

u  Well,  I  am  going  to  bed  as  long  as  your  shadow 
isn't  going  to  materialize,"  said  Victoria ;  "  so  good 
night,  girls  ! "  And  abruptly  leaving  them,  she  went 
into  the  house. 

"  It  is  funny  about  Vic,  isn't  it,  Honor  ? "  said 
Katherine.  "  I  mean  that  she  won't  explain  why 
she  doesn't  like  Mr.  Madison." 

"  Very,  and  I  am  going  to  speak  to  her  again 
about  it.  Perhaps  she  would  tell  me  more  if  we 
were  alone." 

"  You  mean  without  me  ?  Why,  I  should  like  to 
know  ?  However,  if  you  do  find  out,  you  mustn't 
fail  to  tell  me,  for  I  really  am  most  curious  about 
it." 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

MIDNIGHT    MARAUDERS. 

\  7ICTORIA  went  upstairs  to  her  room,  but  it 
was  long  before  she  went  to  bed.  Sophy 
was  fast  asleep  in  her  little  bed  in  the  corner,  and 
Victoria  knew  that  there  was  no  danger  of  her 
waking.  The  shades  at  the  two  windows  had 
been  drawn  as  high  as  they  would  go,  and  the 
moonlight  streamed  in,  lying  in  white  patches  upon 
the  floor  and  making  the  room  as  light  as  day. 

Victoria  sat  down  in  the  shadow  near  one  of 
the  windows  and  looked  out  into  the  night.  Her 
room  was  next  to  that  of  her  aunt,  and  over  the 
dining-room.  Beneath  her  window  was  the  shrub- 
bery in  which  Katherine  had  heard  the  suspi- 
cious sounds  a  short  time  since.  Beyond  lay  the 
flower  garden,  the  beds  bathed  in  the  moonlight, 
and  the  roses  lifting  their  heads  to  catch  the 
dew.  On  the  other  side  of  the  flower  garden  was 
the  vegetable  patch,  and  beyond  that  again  the 

pasture  and  the  woods. 

281 


282  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

The  window  near  which  she  sat  was  directly 
above  the  bay-window  of  the  dining-room,  the 
roof  of  which  projected  from  the  side  of  the 
house.  Vines  grew  up  over  the  dining-room  win- 
dow and  had  been  trained  on  either  side  of  Vic- 
toria's, so  that  in  summer  time  she  looked  through 
a  veritable  bower  of  green,  and  this  year  a  pair 
of  bluebirds  had  built  their  nest  there  and  some- 
times wakened  her  in  the  early  dawn  with  their 
sweet  singing. 

Victoria  sat  for  a  long  time  quite  motionless. 
She  heard  her  aunt  come  up  to  her  room  and, 
after  a  half-hour  of  activity,  subside  into  the  tran- 
quillity of  night.  She  felt  it  to  be  a  merciful 
arrangement  of  human  affairs  and  habits  that 
people  were  forced  to  rest  for  a  few  hours  out  of 
the  twenty-four,  otherwise  the  stirring  nature  of 
Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward  would  know  no  calm. 

She  heard  Katherine  mount  to  her  rooms  in 
the  third  story,  and  Honor  go  to  hers  on  the 
other  side  of  the  house. 

At  last  all  was  still.  Victoria's  brain,  wide 
awake  and  unusually  alert  for  this  hour  of  the 
night,  was  still  occupied  with  the  tiresome  topics 
of  the  afternoon.  She  felt  that  she  could  not 


MIDNIGHT  MARAUDERS.  283 

sleep  until  she  had  imparted  some  of  the  new 
ideas  with  which  it  was  teeming  to  some  one,  and 
that  some  one  must  be  Honor.  Her  sister  could 
not  yet  be  asleep,  Victoria  thought;  so  leaving 
her  window  wide  open,  she  went  across  the  hall 
and  around  the  gallery  to  Honor's  room  and 
knocked  softly  on  the  door.  Her  sister  opened 
it  at  once. 

"What  is  the  matter,  Vic?"  she  asked.  "Are 
you  ill  ?  Why,  you  are  still  in  your  dress,  and 
you  came  up  two  hours  ago !  " 

"I  know  it.  Hush,  Honor,  don't  speak  so  loud! 
I  don't  want  any  one  to  hear  me.  Do  you  mind 
if  I  come  in  and  talk?  Are  you  very  sleepy?" 

"  No,  not  a  bit  sleepy.  Come  in,  of  course.  I 
want  especially  to  see  you.  What  is  the  matter, 
Vic  ?  You  have  looked  so  anxious  all  the  after- 
noon, and  not  a  bit  like  yourself.  What  is  it?" 

"  It  is  all  Aunt  Sophia,"  said  Victoria,  curling 
herself  up  on  the  foot  of  the  bed. 

"  Aunt  Sophia !  Why,  what  has  she  been  say- 
ing ?  I  thought  you  were  too  busy,  when  you 
were  with  her,  to  talk." 

"  Is  Aunt  Sophia  ever  too  busy  to  say  what 
she  wants  to  ?  " 


284  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  But  what  was  it  about  ? " 

"Dave  Carney,  for  one  thing." 

Honor  laughed.  "  Surely,  my  dear  child,  you 
are  not  staying  up  half  the  night  just  because 
Aunt  Sophia  sees  fit  to  criticise  Dave  Carney? 
If  I  minded  her  as  much  as  that,  I  should  never 
sleep  a  wink  after  she  had  been  talking  about 
poor  B.  Lafferty,  who,  by  the  way,  declares  that 
she  is  going  to-morrow  '  for  certain  sure ! '  What 
does  she  say  about  Dave  ?  " 

"  Oh,  she  doesn't  think  he  is  honest,  because 
she  was  sure  she  saw  him  going  into  a  pawn- 
broker's shop.  As  if  that  proved  anything!  She 
might  just  as  well  say  that  I  wasn't,  because  I 
sold  the  gold  and  the  —  "  Victoria  paused. 

"Not  quite  the  same  thing,"  said  Honor,  "for 
you  really  had  the  things  to  sell ;  but  I  can't 
imagine  where  Dave  Carney  gets  anything  to 
pawn.  But  I  can't  think  why  you  are  so  worried, 
Vic.  Aunt  Sophia  has  been  saying  that  sort  of 
thing  all  our  lives." 

"  Oh,  I  know  that.  It  isn't  that  I  am  worried 
about,  of  course,  Honor.  She  was  speaking  about 
something  else,  that  I  hadn't  thought  of  before. 
Something  about  Katherine." 


MIDNIGHT  MARAUDERS.  285 

"  What  about  her  ?  "  asked  Honor,  quickly. 

"Well,  she  said  first  that  she  was  selfish  and 
extravagant,  and  then  —  I  really  hate  to  repeat  it, 
Honor,  for  it  doesn't  seem  a  bit  nice,  but  I  must 
tell  you  —  then  she  said  it  didn't  make  so  much 
difference  as  she  was  going  to  marry  a  rich  man, 
or  '  make  a  good  match,'  as  she  expressed  it. 
Don't  you  think  it  was  rather  disagreeable  for 
Aunt  Sophia  to  say  that?  And  whom  do  you 
suppose  she  meant,  Honor  ? " 

"  Mr.  Madison,  of  course." 

Honor's  voice  was  so  peculiar  that  Victoria 
glanced  at  her  sharply,  but  it  was  too  dark  in  the 
room  for  her  to  see  her  face  very  clearly. 

"  Yes,  Mr.  Madison ;  but  I  don't  see  how  you 
happened  to  guess  it  so  quickly." 

"  Chiefly  because  there  is  no  one  else  whom 
Aunt  Sophia  could  possibly  mean.  There  isn't 
another  man  in  the  neighborhood." 

"But,  Honor,  have  you  noticed  anything?  Do 
you  think  that  Katherine  —  well,  that  she  cares 
for  him  ?  Of  course  he  likes  her,  he  couldn't  help 
liking  her,  but  —  oh,  I  don't  know !  It  doesn't 
seem  a  bit  nice  to  talk  about  Katherine  this  way, 
and  I  wish  Aunt  Sophia  hadn't  said  anything.  I 


286  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

told  her  that  probably  they  were  just  good  friends, 
and  she  said  that  was  almost  impossible.  Don't 
you  think  that  is  a  most  ridiculous  idea,  Honor  ? " 

"  Very  ridiculous,  and  I  agree  with  you  that  it 
isn't  very  nice  to  talk  about  it.  I  know  lots  of 
girls  do,  and  we  should  be  considered  very  old- 
fashioned  and  peculiar  not  to  want  to.  We  are 
different  from  most  girls,  and  I  think  we  feel  dif- 
ferently about  those  things.  So  don't  let  us  say 
any  more,  Vic,  unless  Katherine  wants  to  speak 
about  it  herself." 

"  And  there  is  nothing  for  us  to  do  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Honor,  very  quietly,  "  there  is  noth- 
ing for  us  to  do."  And  then,  very  much  to  the 
surprise  of  Victoria,  she  hid  her  face  in  the  pillow. 

"Why,  are  you  so  sleepy,  Honor?"  asked  the 
younger  sister.  "  You  don't  look  so.  What  is  the 
matter?" 

"No,  I'm  not  really  sleepy,  but  —  but  I  think 
we  have  talked  long  enough,  Vicky  dear !  If  you 
don't  mind,  I  would  rather  not  say  any  more." 

"  But  I  haven't  been  here  more  than  fifteen 
minutes,  Honor,  and  there  is  something  else  that 
I  thought  of  telling  you." 

"  Not  to-night,  please,  dear.     I  would  rather  not 


MIDNIGHT  MARAUDERS.  287 

talk  any  more  to-night,  if  you  don't  mind  my 
saying  so." 

"Well,  just  as  you  say,  of  course!  "  said  Vic- 
toria, as  she  got  up.  "  I  think  you  are  very  queer, 
though.  You  said  you  were  glad  to  see  me  and 
that  you  wanted  to  talk  about  something  yourself, 
and  now,  almost  right  away,  you  tell  me  to  go ! 
What  did  you  want  to  say  to  me  ? " 

"  Don't  be  huffy,  dear !  I  know  I  did  want  to, 
but  really,  I  can't  talk  about  anything  more  to- 
night. I — I  have  a  headache." 

"  Oh,  you  poor  thing ! "  cried  Victoria,  her  re- 
sentment fading  at  once.  "  Why  didn't  you  tell 
me  so  before?  I  thought  you  looked  different 
from  usual.  Can't  I  do  anything  for  you?  It 
was  a  shame  for  me  to  come  and  bother  you,  but 
you  seemed  glad  to  have  me  when  I  came.  Shall 
I  bathe  your  head  with  cologne  ? " 

"  No,  I  thank  you.  If  I  once  get  asleep,  I  shall 
be  all  right,  and  it  is  really  pretty  late,  Vic.  It  is 
nearly  twelve  o'clock.  You  had  better  go  to  bed 
right  away.  Good  night,  dear." 

Honor  was  almost  pushing  her  sister  out  of  the 
room  as  she  spoke,  and  Victoria  heard  her  close 
and  lock  the  door  behind  her. 


288  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  If  Honor  isn't  too  funny ! "  she  said  to  herself. 
"  Locking  me  out,  actually !  Well,  if  she  isn't 
going  to  worry,  there  is  no  need  of  my  doing  so. 
People  never  do  what  you  expect  them  to.  Honor 
is  certainly  queer. 

'Jog  on,  jog  on  the  footpath  way'  — 

Why,  how  very  peculiar !  I  am  sure  I  didn't  leave 
my  door  open." 

She  had  reached  her  own  room  and  paused  be- 
fore the  open  door.  She  had  certainly  not  left 
it  open,  because  of  the  draught  which  Sophy  would 
have  been  in  between  it  and  the  window.  Perhaps 
the  breeze  had  blown  it  open,  and  yet  that  did  not 
seem  possible,  for  the  night  was  a  still  one,  and 
it  seemed  to  be  growing  warmer.  She  went  into 
the  room  and  found  Sophy  sitting  up  in  bed. 

"Oh,  is  that  you,  Vic?"  she  exclaimed.  "I'm 
so  glad  !  Have  you  just  come  up  ?  And  did  you 
meet  Dave  ? " 

"  My  dear  child,  you  must  be  dreaming!  Of  course 
I  didn't  meet  Dave.  It  is  the  middle  of  the  night." 

"  But  Dave  just  went  through  here,"  said  Sophy. 
"  I  heard  a  sound  that  woke  me  up,  and  when  I 
opened  my  eyes  there  was  Dave  just  going  out  the 
door.  Didn't  you  see  him  ?  " 


MIDNIGHT  MARAUDERS.  289 

"  Dearest,  I  know  you  have  been  dreaming,"  said 
Victoria,  sitting  down  beside  her  little  sister  and 
taking  her  hand.  "  I  tell  you,  it  is  after  twelve 
o'clock,  and  Dave  is  probably  sound  asleep  in  his 
room  at  the  barn.  You  know  he  is  never  upstairs 
here,  and  of  course  he  wouldn't  be  going  through 
our  room  at  any  hour.  You  have  such  vivid 
dreams  sometimes,  Sophy.  Don't  you  remember 
the  one  about  the  pony  that  you  thought  was  here 
in  the  room  ?  " 

Sophy  laughed.  "That  was  a  funny  one,"  she 
said,  "  and  the  other  about  the  animals  that  could 
talk,  after  Peter  had  been  reading  those  stories 
to  me.  Well,  perhaps  you're  right,  Vic,  and  this 
was  a  dream  about  Dave,  but  it  was  a  very  clear 
one,  and  I  was  frightened  when  I  woke  up  and 
you  weren't  here.  Are  you  going  to  bed  now  ? " 

"  Yes,  very  quickly,  and  you  must  try  to  go  to 
sleep  right  away,  it  is  so  late." 

Sophy  obediently  lay  down  and  was  soon  fast 
asleep  again. 

"  Funny  how  the  child  dreams,"  thought  Vic- 
toria, "  and  it  was  funny,  too,  that  I  should  have 
left  the  door  open.  Something  must  have  blown 
down  in  the  breeze  and  waked  her  up,  and  that 


2QO  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

was  the  noise  she  heard.  Yes,  here  is  a  photo- 
graph on  the  floor,  and  this  little  book  that  was 
near  the  edge  of  my  table.  It  must  have  been  a 
pretty  strong  wind  to  blow  that  off,  and  yet  it 
seems  so  warm  now." 

And  before  long  Victoria  was  herself  asleep,  hav- 
ing dismissed  her  cares  and  anxieties  with  the  deter- 
mination to  think  no  more  about  them.  If  Honor 
was  not  troubled  by  them,  why  should  she  be  ? 

It  seemed  to  Victoria  that  she  had  been  asleep 
but  a  few  moments  when  she  was  awakened  by 
a  sharp  and  excited  rapping  upon  her  door.  It 
must  be  morning,  however,  for  instead  of  the  moon 
which  had  lighted  her  room  when  she  went  to  sleep, 
the  sun  was  now  shining  in  the  heavens,  already 
quite  high  and  well  advanced  upon  his  day's  journey. 

"  Vic,"  said  Honor's  voice  in  the  hall,  "  open 
your  door  quickly!  The  most  dreadful  thing 
has  happened." 

Victoria  sprang  to  let  her  in. 

"What  is  it?"   she  asked. 

"  The  house  has  been  robbed,"  said  Honor. 
"  Burglars  have  been  here,  and  everything  down- 
stairs has  been  ransacked !  Oh,  Vic,  isn't  it  too 
dreadful?" 


MIDNIGHT  MARAUDERS.  291 

Victoria  was  speechless  with  surprise  and  con- 
sternation. 

"  I  thought  I  heard  a  noise  in  the  night,"  con- 
tinued Honor ;  "  I  didn't  sleep  very  well,  and  I 
thought  of  going  down  to  the  dining-room  to 
get  a  glass  of  water.  Oh,  Vic,  suppose  I  had ! 
I  should  have  met  them !  Instead,  I  took  some 
water  from  the  pitcher  in  my  room,  and  I  re 
member  setting  the  pitcher  down  on  the  flooi 
with  quite  a  hard  thump.  It  was  after  that,  I 
think,  that  I  heard  a  sound  like  a  door  shutting. 
It  grew  very  warm  in  the  night,  and  I  opened 
my  window  with  quite  a  noise.  I  shouldn't  won- 
der if  it  had  frightened  them  off." 

"  Have  they  taken  much  ? "    asked  Victoria. 

"  I  don't  know  yet,  for  everything  is  in  confu- 
sion. Blanch  came  up  to  tell  me.  The  silver 
was  most  of  it  in  my  room,  fortunately.  It  is  a 
good  thing  we  are  in  the  habit  of  bringing  it  up 
every  night.  How  do  you  suppose  they  got  in  ? " 

"  I  can  imagine.  Do  you  remember,  Honor, 
that  Katherine  thought  she  heard  some  one  in 
the  shrubbery  ?  I  do  wonder  if  the  burglar  was 
hiding  there !  How  perfectly  horrible  it  seems  ! " 

"  And  we  walked  about  there  looking  for  him ! 


2Q2  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

I  must  go  up  and  tell  Katherine,  and  when  you 
are  dressed,  we  will  go  down  and  make  a  careful 
search." 

In  the  meantime,  Sophy  had  waked  up,  and, 
hearing  the  news,  could  scarcely  control  her  ex- 
citement. She  flew  about  the  room,  constantly 
getting  into  Victoria's  way,  begging  to  be  helped 
with  her  innumerable  buttons,  and  asking  a  thou- 
sand questions. 

"  What  is  a  buggler,  Vic  ?  "  she  demanded.  "  I 
always  thought  a  buggler  was  some  kind  of  a 
bug,  like  a  buffalo  bug,  or  something  of  that  sort. 
Is  it  really  a  real  live  man  ?  And  what  did  he 
want  in  our  house  ?  And  how  did  he  get  in, 
Vic,  with  the  doors  all  locked  and  bolted  ?  I 
say,  Vic,  how  did  he  get  in  ? " 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Vic.  "  Sophy,  do  please 
get  out  of  my  way !  I'm  in  such  a  hurry.  Go 
stand  by  the  window,  there's  a  good  girl ! " 

"  But  won't  you  tell  me  what  a  buggler  is  ? " 
pleaded  Sophy.  "  I  won't  stir  if  you'll  only  tell  me." 

"  It's  a  robber.     Do  you  know  what  that  is  ? " 

"  Of  course  I  do.  That  is  a  sensible  name. 
Any  one  would  know  that  a  robber  robs,  but  a 
buggler ! " 


MIDNIGHT  MARAUDERS.  293 

"  A  buggler  doesn't  bug,"  said  Victoria,  laugh- 
ing in  spite  of  her  hurry  and  dismay.  "  Let  me 
tell  you  that  it  is  burglar,  and  not  buggler." 

Sophy  had  by  this  time  taken  up  her  station 
by  the  window. 

"  Why,  Vic,"  she  cried,  looking  out,  "  did  you 
know  that  all  the  vines  are  torn  round  this  win- 
dow? They're  just  streaming!  What  do  you 
s'pose  has  made  'em  so  ? " 

Victoria  ran  to  look. 

"  They  weren't  so  last  night,"  said  she.  "  Sophy, 
it  looks  exactly  as  if  some  one  had  climbed  up 
here.  Do  you  think  the  man  could  possibly 
have  come  in  this  way  ? " 

She  stood  by  the  window,  reviewing  hastily  in 
her  mind  the  events  of  the  night.  She  had  sat 
there  for  a  long  time  and  then  had  left  the  room. 
She  had  been  absent  not  more  than  fifteen  or 
twenty  minutes,  and  when  she  came  back  the  door 
was  open.  It  gave  her  a  most  uncomfortable  sen- 
sation to  feel  that  the  robber  had  actually  been 
in  her  very  room. 

"  I  shouldn't  wonder  a  bit,"  said  Sophy.  "  You 
know  I  dreamed  Dave  Carney  went  through  the 
room." 


294  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

So  she  had!  Perhaps — perhaps,  after  all,  it 
had  not  been  a  dream !  Victoria  felt  a  sudden 
and  unaccountable  weakness,  and  she  was  forced 
to  sit  down  for  a  moment.  Surely  it  could  not 
have  been  Dave  Carney  who  had  thus  entered 
the  house  of  his  benefactors ! 

"  Sophy,"  said  Victoria,  "  don't  say  anything 
about  that  dream,  will  you  ?  Promise  me  that 
you  won't  tell  any  one  that  you  dreamed  that 
about  Dave." 

"  Why,  no,  Vic ;  I  won't,  if  you  don't  want  me 
to;  but  why  not?  Why  can't  I  tell?" 

"  I  have  good  reasons,  Sophy  dear,  but  I  haven't 
time  to  explain  them  now;  but  you  know  it  is  fun 
to  have  a  secret  with  me,'  isn't  it  ? " 

"  Oh,  very  well,"  said  Sophy,  greatly  pleased 
with  the  idea.  "  Yes,  I  do  love  secrets  with  you, 
Vic.  I'll  never  tell." 

Downstairs  all  was  in  confusion.  The  dining- 
room  had  apparently  been  entered  first,  for  the 
most  thorough  work  had  been  done  here.  Drawers 
stood  open,  closets  and  sideboard  were  in  confu- 
sion. The  china  had  been  left  untouched,  but  the 
silver  candlesticks  and  the  old  snuffers  with  their 
tray  were  gone,  and  some  small  articles  in  silver 


MIDNIGHT  MARAUDERS.  29$ 

and  plated  ware  which  had  not  been  carried  up- 
stairs at  night  with  the  table  silver  and  the  service. 

A  clock,  which  had  stood  upon  the  dining-room 
mantel-shelf,  had  been  carried  into  the  parlor  and 
left  there.  No  doubt  the  man  or  men  had  been 
frightened  off  by  the  noise  which  Honor  made 
when  she  set  down  her  pitcher  and  afterwards 
opened  her  window,  for  her  room  was  over  the 
parlor.  They  had  gone  out  by  way  of  the  front 
door,  for  it  was  found  unbolted.  No  other  door 
or  window  had  been  disturbed,  and  it  was  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  one  man  had  entered  by  way 
of  Victoria's  room  and  had  then  opened  the  front 
door  to  the  others,  if  others  there  were. 

It  was  astonishing  that  the  man  —  who  no 
doubt  was  the  one  in  the  shrubbery  whom  Kath- 
erine  had  heard  —  should  have  chosen  the  exact 
time  during  which  Victoria  was  absent  from  the 
room  to  climb  up  over  the  dining-room  window, 
and  that  he  had  not  seen  Victoria,  when  she  was 
sitting  in  her  room,  as  she  said  she  had  been 
doing  for  more  than  an  hour.  It  could  only  be 
explained  by  the  fact  that  she  had  sat  in  a  low 
chair  a  little  back  from  the  window,  and  com- 
pletely in  the  shadow.  He  had  probably  been 


296  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

watching  from  the  shrubbery,  and,  not  seeing  any 
one  and  finding  the  window  conveniently  open, 
had  determined  to  enter  in  that  way,  whatever  his 
previous  plans  may  have  been ;  and  he  had  chosen 
exactly  the  right  moment  for  doing  it. 

Naturally  enough,  the  Starrs  were  greatly  excited 
by  this  occurrence,  and  none  more  so  than  Mrs. 
Wentworth  Ward.  She  quite  resented  the  fact 
that  she  had  slept  peacefully  and  unconsciously 
through  the  whole  episode,  and  seemed  to  take 
it  as  a  personal  grievance  that  she  had  not  awak- 
ened and  descended  in  person  to  confront  the 
burglar.  The  opportunity  for  that  having  passed 
by,  she  consoled  herself  by  making  active  investi- 
gations into  the  amount  of  loss  that  had  been  sus- 
tained by  her  nieces,  and  by  trying  to  fit  the  cap 
of  guilt  upon  some  member  of  the  household. 

"  It  is  absurd  to  think  the  man  got  in  through 
Victoria's  room,"  said  she.  "  It  could  not  be ! 
Her  room  is  directly  next  to  mine,  and  I  should 
have  heard  him.  I  am  a  very  light  sleeper,  I 
assure  you.  Besides,  how  could  he  have  had  the 
luck  to  choose  the  very  time  of  all  others  when 
Victoria  was  out  of  the  room  ?  What  if  the  vines 
are  torn  ?  That  proves  nothing.  No,  no !  De- 


MIDNIGHT  MARAUDERS.  297 

pend  upon  it,  some  one  in  this  house  opened  the 
front  door  and  let  them  in.  You  know  very  little 
about  that  extremely  ignorant  maid  of  yours.  I 
have  no  doubt  she  was  an  accomplice." 

They  had  finished  breakfast  when  Mrs.  Ward 
made  this  statement  and  were  again  in  the  parlor, 
and  while  they  were  talking,  Mr.  Madison  was 
seen  approaching  the  house.  He  had  come  to 
ask  Honor  and  Katherine  to  go  out  on  the  river 
with  his  sister  and  himself  that  afternoon. 

When  he  came  in,  Victoria  glanced  quickly  from 
one  sister  to  the  other.  She  was  surprised  to 
see  that  Honor  was  the  one  who  looked  embar- 
rassed. Her  color  certainly  changed,  and  her 
manner  was  somewhat  stiff.  Katherine,  on  the 
contrary,  greeted  the  newcomer  with  her  custom- 
ary frankness. 

"  You  are  just  the  very  one  we  need,"  said  she. 
"  Here  we  lone,  lorn  women  —  the  only  man  in 
the  family  laid  up  with  a  broken  leg  —  have  been 
robbed !  The  only  wonder  is  that  we  were  not 
murdered  as  well." 

They  told  him  the  history  of  the  night,  and 
Madison's  advice  was  that  the  matter  should  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  detectives  at  once.  He 


298  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

offered  to  do  it  for  them,  and  thought  it  probable 
that  their  property  would  be  recovered,  as  such 
articles  as  the  clock,  and  various  other  things  that 
had  been  taken  from  the  parlor,  would  be  of  no 
use  to  the  burglars  unless  they  were  pawned. 
The  silver  candlesticks,  on  the  contrary,  could 
be  melted  down. 

"  I  think  it  couldn't  have  been  a  very  experi- 
enced thief,"  said  Roger.  "  An  old  hand  would 
have  known  better  than  to  take  plated  things,  as 
you  say  some  of  them  were.  However,  we  will 
tell  the  whole  story  to  the  detective.  Sup- 
pose you  leave  things  here  just  as  they  are.  I 
will  bring  a  man  out  from  Boston  in  the  first 
train  I  can  get.  I  could  telegraph,  I  suppose, 
for  one  to  come,  but  it  is  just  as  well  to  move 
quietly  in  these  matters,  and  perhaps  it  will  not 
take  any  longer  to  go  to  town.  I  am  inclined 
myself  to  the  theory  that  the  man  came  in  the 
second-story  window.  The  open  door  which  Miss 
Victoria  found,  and  the  torn  vines  seem  to  point 
to  that." 

"  I  do  not  agree  with  you,"  said  Mrs.  Wentworth 
Ward.  "  My  nieces,  Mr.  Madison,  quite  against 
my  better  judgment,  have  insisted  upon  employ- 


MIDNIGHT  MARAUDERS.  299 

ing  two  very  inferior  servants.  One  is  the  kitchen 
maid,  who  knows  absolutely  nothing  —  in  fact,  to 
use  a  slang  expression  to  which  I  seriously  object 
—  is  as  green  as  the  island  she  came  from.  The 
other  is  a  farm  boy,  whom  they  picked  up  no  one 
knows  where.  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  could 
give  some  information  in  regard  to  this  robbery. 
Ellen  Higgins,  my  own  maid,  who  is  here,  tells 
me  that  this  boy  is  behaving  most  unaccountably 
this  morning.  When  he  heard  of  the  robbery, 
he  first  became  very  pale  indeed,  and  then  turned 
very  red,  and  since  then  he  has  shown  every  evi- 
dence of  guilt.  In  addition  to  this,  with  my  own 
eyes  I  saw  him  going  into  a  Boston  pawnbroker's 
shop  a  day  or  two  ago,  as  I  told  my  niece  Vic- 
toria only  yesterday." 

"Well,  we  will  tell  all  that  to  the  detectives," 
said  Madison.  "They  will  soon  find  out  who  the 
guilty  one  is." 

As  he  spoke,  his  glance  fell  upon  Victoria.  At 
the  mention  of  Dave  Carney  she  too  had  become 
very  white.  She  was  thinking  of  Sophy's  dream. 
She  almost  wished  that  she  could  get  speech 
with  Roger  Madison  alone.  She  should  like  to 
tell  him  the  whole  story  and  ask  him  if  there 


30O  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

were  not  some  way  of  saving  Dave  from  the  iron 
hand  of  the  law.  She  felt  that  if  he  were  arrested, 
it  would  stain  his  reputation  forever. 

She  did  not  for  a  moment  believe  that  he  was 
guilty,  and  yet  —  there  was  Sophy's  dream!  Was 
it  her  duty  to  tell  Mr.  Madison  this,  or  not? 
She  would  certainly  not  give  her  Aunt  Sophia 
the  benefit  of  the  information.  In  the  meantime 
Peter  spoke. 

"  I  know  more  about  Dave  Carney  than  any  of 
you,"  said  he,  "and  you  needn't  try  to  make  me 
think  that  he  had  anything  to  do  with  it.  I've 
been  with  him  a  lot,  and  I  know  him,  and  nobody 
has  any  right  to  say  anything  about  him  in  con- 
nection with  it." 

But  confidently  as  Peter  spoke  he  too  felt  un- 
easy, for  he  distinctly  remembered  the  occasion 
of  his  first  meeting  with  Carney. 

He  had  been  stealing  apples! 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

ON   THE    RIVER. 

\  7ICTORIA  concluded  that  if  she  wished  to 
save  Dave  Carney,  her  best  course  was  to  say 
nothing  to  Mr.  Madison.  He  would  not  be  in- 
fluenced by  any  feeling  of  pity  for  Dave,  she 
feared,  and  if  he  knew  that  Sophy  had  imagined 
that  the  boy  passed  through  the  room,  he  would 
consider  it  his  duty  to  tell  the  detective  of  the 
fact. 

Victoria  remembered  that  Sophy  had  been  very 
confident  when  the  incident  occurred  that  she 
had  not  been  dreaming,  and  the  torn  vines  and 
the  open  door  proved  conclusively  that  some  one 
had  climbed  in  at  the  window.  Victoria  in  her 
own  mind  was  almost  if  not  entirely  convinced 
that  it  was  Carney,  but  there  was  nothing  to  cause 
any  one  else  to  suspect  him, — with  the  exception 
of  her  aunt,  who  suspected  him  on  principle, — 
and  if  Victoria  remained  silent,  she  hoped  that 
the  boy  would  escape. 

301 


302  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

But  then,  again,  was  this  course  right?  If 
Carney  were  so  depraved  as  to  steal  from  the 
family  who  had  treated  him  with  such  kindness, 
surely  it  was  their  duty  to  deliver  him  into  the 
hands  of  justice.  Victoria  knew  that  this  would 
be  Roger  Madison's  opinion.  She  had  just  de- 
termined to  say  nothing  and  to  allow  matters  to 
take  their  course  without  interference  from  her, 
when  something  which  Peter  said  to  her  again 
unsettled  her. 

The  boy  was  in  the  hammock,  which  was  hung 
across  one  end  of  the  piazza  directly  in  front  of 
the  dining-room  window.  Seeing  Victoria  within, 
where  she  was  busily  washing  the  breakfast  dishes, 
he  called  to  her  to  come  to  him. 

"What  do  you  want?"  asked  Victoria,  appear- 
ing on  the  other  side  of  the  wire  screen  at  the 
window,  with  a  saucer  in  her  hand  which  she 
was  vigorously  wiping  with  a  crash  towel.  "  I'm 
awfully  busy,  Peter.  It  is  ironing  day,  you  know, 
and  Honor  and  Katherine  are  making  the  beds, 
so  I  have  to  do  the  breakfast  things  alone.  Sophy 
is  helping  me,  but  —  you  know  what  that  means!" 

"  I  want  to  speak  to  you,"  said  Peter,  raising 
himself  on  one  arm,  and  lowering  his  voice  to  a 


ON   THE  RIVER.  303 

mysterious  whisper.  "  It's  really  very  important, 
Vic.  About  last  night,  you  know.  Can't  you  come 
out  here  a  minute  ?  Is  any  one  else  in  there  ?  " 

"  Only  Sophy." 

"Not  Aunt  Sophia?" 

"  No ;  she  is  upstairs." 

"  Oh,  then  do  come  out,  quick !  It's  a  good 
chance.  And  shut  that  window.  I  don't  want 
any  one  inside  to  hear  me." 

Victoria  saw  that  he  had  really  something  of 
importance  to  communicate,  so,  leaving  several 
articles  upon  the  tray  for  Sophy  to  wipe  during 
her  absence,  and  giving  her  strict  injunctions  to 
be  careful,  she  closed  the  dining-room  window, 
and  went  around  through  the  door  to  Peter  on 
the  piazza.. 

"  Have  you  seen  Carney  this  morning  ? "  he 
asked  eagerly. 

Victoria  started.  The  mention  of  Carney's 
name  fitted  so  exactly  with  her  own  thoughts. 

"No,"  she  replied. 

"  Vic,  do  you  think  it  could  have  been  he  ?  I 
wasn't  going  to  let  on  to  Aunt  Sophia  that  I 
thought  it  for  a  minute,  but  I  do  feel  kind  of 
shaky  about  it." 


304  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

"  Why,  Peter,  do  you  really  ? "  said  Victoria. 
"  Wouldn't  it  —  at  least,  why  should  he  have 
chosen  that  way  of  letting  the  burglars  in?  If 
it  was  really  Dave  who  opened  the  door,  I  should 
think  he  could  have  found  some  other  way  of 
doing  it.  He  is  around  the  kitchen  so  much,  he 
might  have  left  a  window  unbolted,  or  something 
of  that  sort.  It  would  have  been  easier  than 
climbing  up  to  my  room.  And  now  I  come  to 
think  of  it,  Dave  knew  that  was  my  room.  He 
came  up  there  once,  to  hang  my  book  shelves. 
He  never  would  have  been  so  stupid  as  to  climb 
in  that  way !  " 

Victoria's  tone  expressed  a  sense  of  relief.  She 
had  not  thought  of  this  before.  She  almost  for- 
got her  surprise  at  Peter's  suspicions. 

"  But,  Vic,"  said  her  brother,  "  I  must  tell  you 
something  I  have  never  told  anybody,  and  it 
kind  of  bothers  me.  I  never  told  you  what  Car- 
ney was  doing  when  I  first  saw  him." 

"  No.     Was  it  anything  wrong,  Peter  ?  " 

"  He  was  —  now  don't  you  tell  any  one,  Vic, 
unless  we  decide  that  we  had  better.  Now  mind 
you  don't!" 

"  No,  I  won't.     Hurry,  for  I  hear  Sophy  calling." 


ON  THE  RIVER.  305 

"  He  was  stealing  apples  from  a  barrel  outside 
of  a  provision  store  in  Fordham." 

"  Peter ! " 

"  Yes,  he  was !  I  caught  him  at  it.  He  said 
he  hadn't  any  money  to  buy  anything  to  eat,  and 
he  was  awfully  hungry,  so  I  gave  him  some.  And 
then  he  helped  me,  —  in  that  fight,  you  know, — 
and  he  came  home  with  me."  Peter  could  not 
yet  endure  to  mention  the  name  of  Sirius. 

"  He  seemed  like  such  a  nice  fellow,"  he  con- 
tinued, "and  I  thought  it  would  be  a  shame  to 
give  him  a  bad  name  by  saying  he'd  been  steal- 
ing. I  knew  Honor  would  never  have  him  here 
if  I  did,  so  I  just  kept  quiet  about  that,  and  didn't 
even  tell  you,  but  I  thought  I  had  better  to-day- 
I  don't  believe  for  a  minute,  though,  that  he  had 
anything  to  do  with  the  robbery.  I  can't  think 
it,  can  you  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  what  to  think,"  said  Victoria, 
again  remembering  Sophy's  so-called  dream. 

At  that  moment  a  loud  crash  sounded  from 
within. 

"  Dear  me,"  cried  Victoria,  running  into  the 
house ;  "  I  do  believe  Sophy  has  broken  some- 
thing ! " 


306  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

She  found  her  small  sister  gazing  in  dismay 
at  the  floor,  which  was  strewn  with  broken  glass. 

"  I  never  meant  to ! "  she  wailed,  when  she 
saw  Victoria.  "  Indeed,  Vic,  I  never  meant  to !  I 
was  only  going  to  help  you  carry  the  tumblers  to 
the  china  closet,  and  they  all  began  to  slip,  and 
slide,  and  tumble  off  the  tray.  Is  that  the  rea- 
son they're  called  tumblers,  Vic  ?  Because  they 
always  tumble  off?  I  never  touched  a  tumbler 
when  it  didn't  tumble.  Tell  me,  Vic,  is  it?  Oh, 
I'm  awful  sorry,  but  I  was  only  helping ! " 

"  I  suppose  you  were,  but,  oh  dear ! "  said  Vic- 
toria, hurrying  away  for  the  dust-pan  and  brush 
with  which  to  sweep  up  the  broken  glass.  "  This 
is  a  day  of  misfortunes!  What  the  burglars  have 
left  you  have  broken." 

"  Oh,  not  everything,  Vic !  How  can  you  say 
so  ?  There's  all  the  china,  dishes,  and  plates,  and 
cups  and  saucers,  and  everything.  I  haven't  broken 
those." 

"  No,  and  please  don't  try  to,"  said  her  sister, 
struggling  to  remain  calm  and  not  to  scold  Sophy. 
A  dozen  good  tumblers  in  atoms,  and  how  could 
they  spare  the  money  to  buy  more  ? 

"  I  never  tried  to ! "  cried  Sophy,  bursting  into 


ON   THE  RIVER.  307 

tears  and  burying  her  face  in  a  dish-towel.  "  Oh, 
how  can  you  say  so  ?  I  never  tried  to  break  'em ! " 

But  for  the  first  time  in  her  life,  Victoria  turned 
a  deaf  ear  to  Sophy's  lamentations,  and  the  child 
fled  upstairs  to  Honor  for  consolation.  She  found 
her  eldest  sister  in  her  own  room.  She  was  stand- 
ing in  the  middle  of  the  floor  and  she  was  directly 
confronted  by  B.  Lafferty,  who,  with  her  hands  on 
her  hips,  was  haranguing  her  young  mistress  with  all 
the  eloquence  at  her  command. 

Sophy  forgot  her  own  grievance  in  wonder  as  to 
what  Blanch  could  be  talking  about,  and  sidling  up 
to  Honor,  she  dried  her  tears  and  listened,  her  big 
brown  eyes  fastened  upon  the  crimson  countenance 
of  the  housemaid. 

"  I  tell  yer,  I'm  agoin'  ter  go  this  very  minute ! " 
said  Blanch.  "  I  ain't  agoin'  ter  stay  where  insults 
is  heaped  upon  me.  I've  put  up  with  the  impe- 
rence  of  that  proud  an'  hotty  girl  long  enough. 
Sayin'  she's  allus  lived  on  Beacon  Street  an'  ain't 
never  lived  in  the  country  afore !  An'  has  allus 
been  in  the  house  with  three  others,  a  cook,  a  laun- 
dress, an'  an  upstairs  girl !  An'  now  she  an'  yer 
aunt  be  afther  sayin'  as  it  was  me  as  let  in  the  bur- 
glars, an'  me  as  sound  asleep  as  anything  an' 


308  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

adreamin'  o'  the  ould  counthry,  an  niver  a  word  did 
I  hear  of  any  burglars  till  I  come  down  this 
mornin'  an'  was  agoin'  ter  set  the  table  for  break- 
fast, an'  lo  an'  behold,  all  the  drawers  an'  the  closets 
was  astandin'  open  an'  I  not  knowin'  at  all  what  it 
all  mint.  An'  yer  know  yerself  as  Miss  Vic's 
windy  and  doore  was  astandin'  wide  open  an'  the 
burglar  walked  in  that  way  as  sure  as  anything,  an' 
they  be  afther  sayin'  as  it  was  me  or  young  Dave 
Carney  as  let  'em  in,  as  honest  a  young  feller  as 
iver  I  seen.  Oh,  I  tell  yer  —  " 

"  Just  wait  a  minute,  Blanch,"  interposed  Honor. 
"/  do  not  think  that  you  had  anything  to  do  with 
the  robbery.  Neither  do  my  sisters,  and  we  are  the 
ones  to  whom  you  are  accountable.  If  you  go  away 
in  the  next  train,  as  you  threaten  to  do,  you  will 
make  others  suspect  you  as  well  as  my  aunt.  It 
will  look  exactly  as  if  you  were  afraid  of  being 
caught  and  were  running  off.  The  detective  who 
is  coming  out  this  morning  will  certainly  say  that 
you  had  something  to  do  with  it  if  he  finds  that  you 
have  gone,  whereas  if  you  stay  quietly  here  and  go 
about  your  work  as  usual,  no  one  will  dream  of 
accusing  you." 

There  was  an  amount  of  common  sense  in  this 


ON   THE  RIVER.  309 

statement  which  B.  Lafferty,  excited  though  she 
was,  could  not  fail  to  recognize. 

"  Very  well,"  said  she,  "  I'll  stay  till  termorrow, 
but  longer  than  that  I  couldn't  put  up  with  that 
girl  from  Beacon  Street.  It's  long  enough  I've 
been  afther  standin'  it,  and  me  keepin'  stiddy  com- 
pany with  a  widder  man  an'  havin'  the  chance  to 
git  married  any  day  I'll  set !  " 

And  so  saying  she  departed  to  the  kitchen,  leav- 
ing her  mistress,  who  had  recently  been  having  a 
discussion  with  her  aunt,  strongly  of  the  opinion 
that  residents  of  Beacon  Street  were  indeed  difficult 
to  live  with. 

It  was  not  long  before  Roger  Madison  returned, 
bringing  with  him  a  detective.  The  man  carefully 
examined  the  premises,  took  a  list  of  the  missing 
articles  with  an  exact  description  of  them  all,  and 
interviewed  each  member  of  the  household. 

There  seemed  to  be  no  doubt  that  the  person 
whom  Katherine  had  heard  in  the  shrubbery  had 
entered  through  the  window  in  Victoria's  room.  Al- 
though Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward  named  her  suspicions 
of  both  Blanch  and  Dave  Carney  to  the  detective, 
he  did  not  seem  inclined  to  agree  with  her  in  regard 
to  the  former.  Honor  had  been  given  a  very  good 


310  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

account  of  the  Irishwoman's  honesty  when  she 
engaged  her,  and  there  had  been  nothing  since  she 
lived  with  them  to  cause  her  to  doubt  it. 

As  to  Carney,  that  was  a  different  matter.  When 
the  detective  questioned  him,  he  became  very  much 
confused  and  gave  most  unsatisfactory  replies ;  and 
yet  it  seemed  impossible  that  a  boy  who  was 
familiar  with  the  house,  and  knew  that  two 
members  of  the  family  occupied  the  room  over  the 
dining-room,  should  have  chosen  that  means  of 
entering.  The  detective  could  determine  nothing 
as  yet. 

After  he  had  gone  back  to  Boston,  and  the  affairs 
of  the  family  had  resumed  their  accustomed  regu- 
larity, Victoria's  thoughts  reverted  to  the  matter 
which  had  been  troubling  her  the  evening  before. 
There  seemed  to  be  no  one  to  whom  she  could 
speak  upon  the  subject.  She  attempted  to  draw 
Honor  into  conversation  about  it,  but  with  no 
result.  Honor  replied  rather  shortly  that  her  mind 
was  too  much  occupied  with  the  robbery  to  think  of 
anything  else.  Naturally,  to  speak  to  Katherine 
was  out  of  the  question,  and  after  all,  said  Victoria 
to  herself,  why  was  it  necessary  to  speak  to  any  one  ? 
It  was  only  the  foolish  habit  that  they  all  had  of 


ON  THE  RIVER.  311 

talking  over  their  troubles  together,  that  made  her 
anxious  to  do  so  on  this  occasion. 

"  I  may  just  as  well  learn  to  do  without  it,"  thought 
she.  "  It  is  a  good  chance  to  begin.  I  have  several 
things  on  my  mind  now.  Katherine,  the  etchings, 
and  Dave.  Secrets  and  responsibilities  seem  to  be 
multiplying.  I  think  I'll  slip  off  to  the  grove  and 
have  a  good  think  all  to  myself." 

This  was  not  so  easy  of  accomplishment  as  might 
appear  at  first  sight,  but  after  having  promised 
Aunt  Sophia  that  the  afternoon  should  be  devoted 
to  her  correspondence,  and  having  established  Peter 
and  Sophy  at  a  game  of  halma,  and  leaving  Kather- 
ine at  the  piano  and  Honor  at  the  sewing-machine, 
Victoria  departed  to  the  pine  grove. 

It  was  a  warm  day,  and  now  at  noon  the  sun 
shone  down  with  oppressive  heat.  The  weather, 
which  had  been  unusually  cool  during  the  past  few 
days  for  the  season  of  the  year,  had  suddenly 
changed,  and  a  hot  wave  had  reached  that  part  of 
the  country  and  was  about  to  envelop  them  with  its 
relentless  intensity.  There  was  not  a  breath  of  air 
in  the  grove,  and  the  aromatic  smell  of  the  pine 
needles  which  covered  the  ground  like  a  thick  car- 
pet seemed  to  add  to  the  heat. 


312  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

Victoria  wondered  if  it  would  be  cooler  on  the 
river,  drawn  up  in  the  shadow  of  the  bank.  She 
went  to  the  little  boathouse  and  loosing  the  old 
boat,  she  stepped  into  it  and  pushed  out  into  mid- 
stream. Then  with  one  oar  she  paddled  close  up 
to  shore  and  made  herself  fast  to  a  convenient 
stump. 

The  boat  was  not  a  very  comfortable  craft,  and  it 
was  inclined  to  leak,  but  by  sitting  with  her  feet 
carefully  tucked  to  one  side,  she  managed  to  avoid 
the  pools  of  water  in  the  bottom.  The  Starrs  had 
long  wished  for  a  canoe,  and  their  father  had  in- 
tended to  buy  one  for  them.  After  his  death  there 
was  no  money  with  which  to  get  it,  although 
Katherine  had  made  known  her  intention  more 
than  once  of  buying  one  as  soon  as  she  had  saved 
enough. 

"  I  don't  believe  she  will,  though,"  said  Victoria 
to  herself,  as  she  leaned  her  head  upon  her  hands 
and  prepared  for  a  "  good  think."  "  I  really  believe 
Katherine  is  growing  a  tiny  mite  more  economical. 
She  hasn't  bought  anything  at  all,  lately.  I  won- 
der if  it  is  because  of  her  interest  in  her  music 
and  —  and  the  Madisons." 

The  name  had  scarcely  crossed  her  mind  when 


ON   THE  RIVER.  313 

she  was  startled  by  a  voice  that  seemed  to  be  very 
close  to  her.  She  had  been  so  absorbed  in  her 
thoughts  that  she  had  not  heard  the  gentle  dip 
of  a  paddle  nor  the  slight  sound  in  the  water 
of  an  approaching  canoe.  Turning  quickly,  she 
found  that  Roger  Madison  had  drawn  up  directly 
alongside. 

"  Did  I  startle  you  ?  "  he  said.  "  I  beg  your  par- 
don. I  thought  you  would  hear  me  coming.  No, 
to  be  quite  truthful,  I  didn't  really  think  so.  I 
wanted  to  catch  you,  and  not  give  you  a  chance 
to  run  away  from  me,  as  usual.  No,  you  needn't 
look  up  there,"  he  added,  seeing  that  Victoria's 
glance  involuntarily  sought  the  river  bank,  which 
was  high  and  particularly  steep  at  this  point. 
"  You  couldn't  possibly  climb  up  there,  if  you 
were  to  try,  without  falling  back  into  the  river, 
and  I  should  have  to  rescue  you  from  a  watery 
grave." 

"A  muddy  one,  I  think,"  said  Victoria,  laugh- 
ing in  spite  of  her  desire  for  flight.  She  could 
not  help  liking  Roger  Madison,  much  as  she 
wished  to  avoid  him.  She  had  liked  him  that 
memorable  day  in  the  picture  store ;  and  since 
then  what  a  good  friend  he  had  proved  himself 


314  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

to  be !  He  had  saved  Peter's  life,  he  had  come 
again  and  again  to  see  the  boy,  and  had  done 
much,  Victoria  felt  confident,  to  help  him  to  bear 
his  accident  patiently;  and  now  to-day  he  had 
taken  all  this  trouble  in  regard  to  the  robbery. 

"  I  have  long  been  waiting  for  this  chance," 
said  Madison ;  "  and,  now  that  it  has  come,  I  in- 
tend to  make  the  most  of  it,  and  you  shall  not 
be  allowed  to  escape  until  you  have  explained 
matters.  I  felt  that  I  was  staying  out  of  town 
for  some  good  reason  to-day,  and  now  it  is  ex- 
plained. It  was  to  see  you.  I  want  to  know  why 
you  always  try  to  avoid  me.  Have  I  ever  done 
anything  to  make  you  dislike  me  ? " 

"  Never ! "  replied  Victoria,  with  such  emphasis 
that  there  was  no  doubting  her  sincerity. 

"  Then  why  do  you  run  away  whenever  I  come 
within  speaking  distance  ?  " 

"  I  should  think  you  would  know,"  said  she. 
"  It  is  because  you  were  the  man  who  bought 
that  etching." 

"  But  I  don't  see  the  connection,"  said  Roger. 
"  Why  should  that  make  you  wish  to  avoid  me  ? 
You  didn't  cheat  me.  The  etching  was  worth  all 
I  gave  you  for  it.  It  was  simply  a  matter  of  busi- 


ON   THE  RIVER.  315 

ness.  If  you  feel  that  you  must  avoid  all  the 
people  you  have  ever  transacted  any  business 
with  —  " 

"  But  it  wasrit  worth  all  that  you  gave  me  for 
it,"  cried  Victoria,  turning  towards  him  her  flushed 
and  troubled  face,  and,  in  her  excitement,  allowing 
her  feet  to  slip  down  into  the  bottom  of  the  boat. 
"  It  wasn't !  That  is  just  it !  You  gave  me  more 
than  you  should  have  done ;  and  I  accepted  it, 
which  was  dreadful !  When  I  came  home  and 
told  the  girls  about  it,  Honor  hoped  that  I  should 
never  see  you  again.  She  felt  very  badly  about 
it,  and  so  did  I.  I  didn't  dare  tell  them  that 
it  was  you.  That  is  the  reason  I  ran  away  the 
day  we  went  to  call  on  your  sister  and  I  saw  you 
in  the  parlor.  The  girls  couldn't  understand  it, 
and  have  never  been  able  to  since." 
"  Then  they  don't  know  it  yet  ? " 
"  No.  I  have  never  dared  tell  them." 
"  Then  don't  tell  them  now,  will  you  ?  It  might 
prejudice  them  against  me." 

"  I  won't  if  I  can  help  it,"  said  Victoria.  "  They 
asked  me  last  night  about  it,  and  said  that  Sophy 
repeated  something  I  said  yesterday  afternoon.  I 
think  I  should  have  told  them  then  if  Katherine 


316  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

hadn't  heard  that  noise  in  the  shrubbery  just  at 
that  minute,  and  we  were  interrupted." 

"  But  I  wish  you  would  explain  why  you  feel 
so,"  said  Roger,  with  a  puzzled  expression  upon 
his  face.  "  Why  did  you  wish  to  avoid  me  ? 
Why  did  you  never  wish  to  see  me  again  ?  I 
can't  understand." 

"  Dear  me,  you  are  very  dense ! "  exclaimed  Vic- 
toria. "  It  is  as  simple  as  possible,  I'm  sure!  In 
the  first  place,  I  took  ten  dollars  more  from  you, 
or  five  dollars  at  least,  than  I  should  have  done, 
because  there  was  no  reason  why  you  should  give 
me  more  than  you  would  have  paid  in  the  store. 
Then,  it  —  well,  Honor  felt  dreadfully  about  hav- 
ing let  me  go  to  Boston  to  sell  those  etchings, 
and  said  I  ought  not  to  have  gone  alone,  and 
you,  'the  young  man,'  would  think  it  very  strange 
that  I  was  allowed  to  go  when  I  was  so  young, 
and  she  should  have  gone  with  me.  That  is  the 
reason  she  hoped  we  should  never  see  you  again. 
Then  when  you  came  here  to  live  I  couldn't  tell 
her  that  you  were  the  one,  because  she  had  felt 
uncomfortable  about  calling  on  your  sister  anyhow." 

"  But  why  ? "  asked  Madison.  "  Didn't  she  like 
our  looks  ? " 


ON   THE  RIVER.  317 

"  Oh,  not  that  at  all !  Because  we  are  so  poor 
and  are  working  for  our  living.  She  felt  that  you 
were  strangers  and  perhaps  wouldn't  understand, 
and  perhaps  wouldn't  want  us  to  call  upon  you 
or  know  you.  You  see,  we  haven't  always  been 
so,  and  it  makes  it  harder.  We  had  great  diffi- 
culty, Katherine  and  I,  in  getting  her  to  go,  and 
when  she  finally  did  and  liked  you  all  so  much  I 
couldn't  bear  to  spoil  it  by  telling  her." 

"  I  see,"  said  Roger.  "  And  you  won't  spoil  it 
now  by  telling  her,  either,  because  —  well,  we  are 
such  capital  friends  now  and  it  might  make  a  dif- 
ference. Wait  until  —  until  I  know  her  better. 
Then  we  will  tell  her,  you  and  I  together,  and 
have  a  good  laugh  over  it.  But  I  want  to  say 
something  to  you,  Miss  Victoria.  You  needn't 
feel  in  that  way  about  the  etching.  I  happen  to 
know  that  the  picture  dealer  sold  the  others  for 
thirty-five  dollars  each,  and  mine  gave  so  much 
pleasure  to  my  sister,  to  whom  I  gave  it,  that  it 
is  worth  far  more  to  me.  I  have  never  regretted 
buying  it,  I  assure  you.  And  I  also  want  to  tell 
you  how  much  we  admire  and  respect  you  for  the 
way  in  which  you  have  all  done.  So  far  from  our 
not  understanding,  we  had  heard  about  you  be- 


3l8  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

fore  we  came,  and  were  most  anxious  to  meet 
you.  We  feel  proud  to  know  you.  Would  you 
mind  shaking  hands  with  me?" 

Victoria  promptly  extended  her  hand,  which 
was  warmly  grasped  by  the  occupant  of  the  other 
boat. 

"  You  won't  run  away  any  more,"  said  he,  "  will 
you?" 

"No  indeed!  I'm  thankful  I  don't  have  to. 
You  have  done  me  a  lot  of  good.  It  is  one  of 
the  things  I  came  down  here  to  think  over.  You 
see  I  had  no  one  to  speak  to  about  it,  and  I 
really  seem  to  need  some  one  always  to  talk  things 
over  with." 

"  It  is  a  great  comfort.  My  sister  and  I  have 
that  habit,  too.  Can't  you  talk  the  other  'things' 
over  with  me  ?  You  say  this  was  one  of  them, 
so  there  must  be  more." 

Victoria  blushed  and  turned  away. 

"  Oh,  no !  "  she  said.  "  The  others  I  shall  have 
to  keep  to  myself  —  except  Dave  Carney.  I  could 
consult  you  about  him,  but  I  think  I  had  better 
not." 

"  Do  you  mean  in  connection  with  the  robbery  ?  " 

"  Yes ;    and    yet    I    don't   want    to    put    it   into 


ON   THE  RIVER.  319 

words.  I  wish  I  could  have  a  little  talk  with  Dave 
myself." 

"  Why  don't  you  ?  "  said  "Madison.  "  It  would 
be  more  efficacious  than  anything  I  could  do. 
You  might  induce  him  to  tell  you  something." 

Victoria  was  silent  for  a  moment.  Then  she 
suddenly  looked  at  her  feet. 

"  I  am  positively  sitting  with  my  feet  in  the 
river ! "  said  she.  "  This  leaky  old  boat  is  no 
good  at  all,  and  my  shoes  are  soaking  wet.  I 
shall  have  to  go  right  in  and  change  them." 

"  I  suppose  I  shall  have  to  allow  you  to  go 
under  those  circumstances,"  said  Roger,  as  he 
pushed  out  of  the  way  and  watched  her  unfasten 
her  boat,  in  the  doing  of  which  she  scorned  his 
proffered  assistance.  "  But  I  am  glad  we  have 
had  this  explanation.  You  won't  run  away  from 
me  any  more,  will  you  ? " 

"  No,"  said  Victoria,  smiling  brightly  at  him  and 
disappearing  within  the  shelter  of  the  old  boat- 
house.  "  I  won't  run  away  from  you  any  more." 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

MRS.    WENTWORTH    WARD    CHANGES    HER    OPINION. 

"  DEFORE  I'd  be  afraid  of  a  toad!" 

"  But,    Peter,    you're    not    afraid    of    any- 
thing." 

"  And  you're  afraid  of  everything,  so  there's  the 
difference.  I  never  saw  such  a  girl.  Snakes,  and 
lizards,  and  toads,  and  spiders,  and  wasps  —  there 
isn't  a  thing  you're  not  afraid  of." 

"  Yes,  there  is,  too ! "  said  Sophy,  indignantly. 
"  I'm  not  afraid  of  flies  or  butterflies  or  cater- 
pillars—  yes,  I  am  afraid  of  caterpillars.  They're 
so  fuzzy." 

"  There,  you  see  there  is  hardly  anything !  As 
for  flies  and  butterflies,  why,  of  course  a  baby 
wouldn't  mind  them." 

"  But  what's  the  use  of  those  other  things, 
Peter  ?  What's  the  use  of  wasps  ?  " 

"  Wasps !  Why,  they're  very  useful.  They 
don't  hurt  you  unless  you  bother  them,  and  they 
eat  up  slugs,  and  some  kinds  of  caterpillars." 

320 


AfRS.    WENTWORTH   WARD   CHANGES  HER   OPINION.     321 

"  Well,  wasps  are  very  frightening,  I  think,  even 
if  they  are  useful,  and  so  are  hop  toads,  and  hop 
toads  are  so  ugly !  Oh,  here  comes  one  now ! 
Go  away,  you  horrid,  naughty  toad !  " 

Peter  and  Sophy  were  on  the  piazza  in  the 
early  twilight.  Honor  and  Katherine  were  with 
the  Madisons  on  the  river,  enjoying  a  picnic  tea. 
Supper  at  Glen  Arden  was  over,  and  Mrs.  Went- 
worth  Ward  had  walked  to  the  village  for  her 
"constitutional,"  which  the  hot  weather  had  pre- 
vented during  the  day.  Victoria  had  gone  in 
search  of  Dave  Carney,  whom  she  thought  she 
should  be  apt  to  find  at  liberty  at  this  hour.  It 
was  the  evening  of  the  day  upon  which  the  robbery 
had  been  discovered. 

"  There  is  no  use  in  an  ugly  toad,  Peter,"  con- 
tinued Sophy. 

"  Indeed  there  is ! "  said  her  brother,  in  a  tone 
of  marked  masculine  superiority.  "  That  just 
shows  how  little  you  know  about  things.  Toads 
are  regular  policemen." 

"  Peter !  What  do  you  mean  ?  Do  they  arrest 
people  ? " 

"  No,  of  course  not,  you  goosie  !  But  they  arrest 
insects.  If  you  put  toads  into  hotbeds  or  cold- 


322  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

frames,  they'll  eat  up  all  the  bugs  and  worms  that 
come  after  the  plants.  They  keep  regular  guard, 
just  as  policemen  do.  There,  do  you  hear  that 
tree  toad  now  ?  " 

Sophy  listened  to  the  shrill  song  of  the  little 
creature  that  appeared  to  be  sitting  upon  the  branch 
of  a  tree  close  by. 

"  They're  as  good  as  hop  toads,  for  they  eat  cater- 
pillars, and  worms,  and  hateful  flies  that  lay  their 
eggs  under  the  bark  of  the  trees,  and  would  eat  up 
the  trees  if  it  were  not  for  the  toads." 

"  I'm  glad  they  eat  caterpillars  as  well  as  the 
wasps,"  said  Sophy.  "  They're  so  disagreeable. 
Why  do  you  suppose  caterpillars  were  made,  Peter  ?  " 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know,  I'm  sure.  To  eat  up  some- 
thing else,  I  suppose,  and  to  be  food  for  toads. 
I'll  tell  you  another  funny  thing  about  hop  toads. 
They  never  will  touch  a  dead  insect  or  bug  or  any- 
thing. They'll  only  catch  them  alive.  Isn't  that 
queer  ? " 

"  How  much  you  do  know,  Peter !  "  said  his  sister, 
admiringly.  "  I  wish  I  knew  as  much  as  you  do. 
I'm  going  to  keep  asking  questions  all  my  life,  and 
then  perhaps  some  day  I  shall  know  as  much." 

"  You  never  will,  for  you  are  only  a  girl,  and  I'm 


MRS.    WRNTWORTH   WARD   CHANGES  HER   OPINION.     323 

a  boy.  You'll  never  know  as  much  as  I  do,  for  I 
shall  always  keep  ahead  of  you.  First  place,  I'm 
nearly  five  years  older  than  you,  and  then,  I'm  a 
boy." 

"  Oh,  I  know  you  think  it's  very  grand  to  be  a 
boy,"  said  Sophy,  still  keeping  a  watchful  eye  upon 
the  extremely  active  hop  toad  which  with  other 
members  of  its  family  had  come  forth  from  be- 
neath the  piazza  for  a  hop  in  the  evening  air ;  "  but 
some  girls  know  a  good  deal.  I  was  asking  Mr. 
Madison  about  it  the  other  day,  and  he  said  some 
girls  knew  as  much  as  boys  did,  and  when  they 
grew  up  some  women  knew  as  much  as  some  men. 
I  think  Mr.  Madison  likes  girls  better  than  you  do, 
Peter.  I  think  he  likes  Honor  and  Katherine 
very  much  indeed.  He  is  always  coming  here  to 
get  them  to  go  somewhere." 

"  I  know  he  is,"  rejoined  Peter.  "  I  like  Mr. 
Madison  ever  so  much,  and  I  think  he's  a  jolly  good 
fellow,  and  I  like  the  way  he  talks,  usually,  but  he's 
awfully  silly  about  girls.  We  were  having  such  an 
interesting  talk  the  other  day  about  animals  and 
birds  when  Honor  happened  to  come  along,  and 
he  stopped  right  off  short  and  walked  off  with  her 
up  to  the  house,  and  never  came  back  to  the  trees 


324  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

where  we  were  sitting  at  all !  Oh,  he's  downright 
silly  about  girls,  and  I  don't  think  you  had  better 
go  by  what  he  says  about  them." 

The  dialogue  was  interrupted  at  this  point  by 
Victoria.  She  came  up  across  the  grass  from  the 
barn  to  the  steps  at  the  end  of  the  piazza.  There 
she  paused. 

"  Peter,"  said  she,  "have  you  seen  Dave  lately?  " 

"  No,  I  haven't  seen  him  since  —  oh,  I  can't  think 
when  it  was." 

"  Try  and  remember.  I  want  to  know  particu- 
larly." 

"  I  guess  it  was  before  dinner.  I  saw  him  go 
across  the  garden  towards  the  Ashmont  road.  I 
wondered  where  he  was  going." 

"  I'm  going  around  to  the  kitchen  for  a  minute," 
said  Victoria,  "  and  then  I'll  come  back." 

She  was  absent  for  five  or  ten  minutes.  When 
she  returned,  it  was  with  a  very  grave  face. 

"  Peter,"  she  said,  "  I'm  very  much  afraid  Dave 
has  run  away." 

"  Vic !     What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Blanch  says  he  hasn't  been  in  the  kitchen  since 
breakfast  time.  After  the  detective  was  here  she 
saw  him  come  out  of  the  barn  in  very  old  clothes, 


MRS.    WENTWORTH  WARD  CHANGES  HER   OPINION.     325 

and  she  thought  he  was  going  out  to  the  farthest 
field  to  work.  He  went  over  in  that  direction." 

"  Yes,"  said  Peter,  eagerly,  "  that's  the  way  I  saw 
him  go." 

"  He  didn't  come  in  to  dinner,  and  when  she 
asked  Wilson,  the  man  who  is  working  here  to-day, 
you  know,  where  he  was,  Wilson  said  that  Dave 
said  he  had  to  go  down  to  Fordham  to  get  some- 
thing, and  he  wouldn't  be  home  to  dinner.  Wilson 
supposed  he  was  just  going  to  take  his  noon  hour 
to  go  down  there,  but  he  has  never  come  back." 

"  Why  didn't  they  tell  us  before  ? "  asked  Peter, 
impatiently. 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know,"  said  Victoria.  "  You  know 
what  B.  Lafferty  is.  She  is  dreadfully  stupid 
about  such  things,  and  when  I  said  something 
about  it,  —  that  she  ought  to  have  told  us, — she 
said  she  wasn't  going  to  let  on  to  that  proud  and 
haughty  person  from  Beacon  Street  that  her  sus- 
picions were  correct." 

"  Did  she  mean  Aunt  Sophia  ? "  asked  Sophy, 
who  had  forgotten  her  fear  of  the  toads  and  was 
listening  with  eager  attention. 

"No;  she  meant  Ellen  Higgins,  I  suppose. 
Both  Ellen  and  Aunt  Sophia  think  that  Dave 


326  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

had  something  to  do  with  the  robbery;  and,  do 
you  know,  Peter,  it  looks  very  much  like  it,  now 
that  Dave  has  gone." 

"  Yes,"  said  Peter,  very  solemnly,  "  it  really  does. 
Oh,  Vic,  I  never  should  have  believed  it  of  him, 
should  you  ?  I  liked  him  so  much.  I  can't  think 
so  even  now.  I  believe  we'll  find  out  yet  that  he 
didn't  have  anything  to  do  with  it.  Maybe  he 
was  taken  ill  somewhere,  or  something  has  hap- 
pened, and  he  can't  get  back.  I  cant  believe  it 
was  he." 

But  the  other  members  of  the  family  did  not 
agree  with  Peter.  When  they  heard  the  news 
of  Carney's  disappearance,  they  looked  at  one 
another  with  troubled  faces.  They  had  all  liked 
the  lad ;  and  the  discovery  that  he  had  deceived 
them  and  had  treated  them  with  such  base  in- 
gratitude, after  all  that  had  been  done  for  him, 
filled  them  with  disappointment  and  real  sorrow. 

Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward  was,  of  course,  trium- 
phant. She  plumed  herself  upon  her  superior  clev- 
erness in  having  suspected  the  boy  from  the  first ; 
and  she  soundly  berated  the  detective  for  having 
neglected  to  arrest  him  at  once.  Now  the  thief 
had  escaped,  and  there  was  no  knowing  when  he 


MRS.    WENTWORTH  WARD   CHANGES  HER  OPINION.     327 

would  be  found.  With  this  exception,  therefore, 
the  Starrs  awaited  further  developments  with  ill- 
concealed  anxiety. 

Honor  and  Katherine  were  very  busy  during 
these  summer  days ;  and  even  the  intense  heat 
which  was  raging  at  present  did  not  keep  them 
from  their  work.  As  soon  as  school  had  come  to 
an  end,  —  early  in  June,  —  they  began  upon  their 
preserving.  Glen  Arden  was  famous  for  its  cur- 
rants and  cherries,  as  well  as  for  its  apple  and 
pear  trees.  As  each  fruit  ripened,  the  huge  kettle 
was  brought  out,  a  quantity  of  sugar  ordered,  and 
every  available  hand  was  brought  into  service. 

Miss  Madison,  coming  one  morning  to  ask  for 
Katherine's  assistance  with  some  new  music,  found 
all  so  busy  that  she  forgot  her  violin  and,  begging 
a  large  apron,  sat  down  at  the  dining-room  table 
with  the  others  and  began  to  stone  cherries  with 
vigor  and  enthusiasm. 

Strawberries,  when  they  came  in  season,  were 
ordered  in  large  quantities  from  the  market,  as 
not  enough  were  grown  upon  the  place  to  answer 
the  purpose.  In  due  time,  currant  jelly  was  to  be 
put  up,  and  the  pears  —  for  this  was  a  pear  year 
—  were  to  be  turned  to  account. 


328  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

Mrs.  Ward  had  ordered  a  liberal  quantity  of  all 
varieties  of  preserves,  and  a  message  came  from 
Mrs.  Madison  begging  that  she  also  might  have 
the  privilege  of  ordering  some.  All  that  were  left 
were  to  be  sent  to  the  Woman's  Exchange  in 
Boston,  to  be  sold. 

It  was  hot  work,  no  doubt,  and  there  were 
pleasanter  things  to  be  done  in  summer  time  than 
stirring  with  a  long  spoon  in  a  kettle  full  of  steam- 
ing fruit ;  but  it  was  a  source  of  great  satisfaction 
to  the  girls  to  feel  that  they  were  making  money 
as  well  now  as  when  school  and  music  pupils 
occupied  their  time,  and  it  was  certainly  a  far 
more  entertaining  way  than  that.  The  preserving 
days  at  Glen  Arden  proved  to  be  the  gayest  of 
the  summer;  and  Roger  Madison,  hearing  about 
them  from  his  sister,  deliberately  remained  away 
from  his  law  office  one  morning  and,  presenting 
himself  at  Glen  Arden,  begged  for  something  to 
do,  upon  which  they  set  him  to  stemming  cur- 
rants, with  strict  injunctions  not  to  taste. 

The  week  which  followed  the  robbery  passed 
away  in  this  wise,  and  then  one  morning  came 
the  information  that  the  stolen  silver  had  been 
traced.  Some  of  the  articles  had  been  found  in 


MRS.   WENT  WORTH  WARD  CHANGES  HER  OPINION.     329 

a  pawn-shop  in  Boston,  having  been  left  there 
by  a  young  man  —  almost  a  boy,  in  fact  —  of 
slight  figure,  and  with  very  light  tow-colored  hair. 
His  eyes  were  peculiar,  and  would  probably  lead 
to  his  detection.  They  had  a  way  of  shifting 
uneasily,  and  of  not  meeting  those  of  the  person 
to  whom  he  spoke. 

This  description  fitted  Dave  exactly,  with  the 
exception  of  the  part  referring  to  the  eyes.  Dave 
had  very  good  eyes,  the  Starrs  thought,  and  a 
perfectly  straightforward  manner. 

"  Probably,  since  he  did  this  dreadful  thing," 
said  Victoria,  sadly,  "  his  eyes  have  changed." 

"  I  don't  believe  he  did  it,"  said  Peter,  stub- 
bornly. "  I  shall  never  believe  it  unless  he  tells 
me  so  himself." 

Within  a  very  short  time,  the  suspected  burg- 
lar was  arrested,  and  it  was  found  that  his  name 
was  Carney !  Roger  Madison  went  to  the  jail 
to  see  him,  and  there,  to  his  astonishment,  found 
that  it  was  James,  and  not  David  Carney.  This 
young  man  closely  resembled  him,  to  be  sure, 
but  he  was  older,  and  his  face  had  a  totally  dif- 
ferent expression.  He  was  David's  brother.  His 
accomplice  was  also  arrested,  a  much  older  man 


330  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

than  himself,  and  most  of  the  stolen  property  was 
recovered. 

The  question  now  was,  where  was  Dave  ?  Was 
he  also  implicated,  and  had  he  for  that  reason 
run  away?  At  all  events,  he  had  completely  dis- 
appeared, and  as  the  summer  days  passed  by,  and 
still  there  was  no  word  of  him,  the  Starrs  gave 
up  all  hope  of  ever  seeing  him  again.  They  did 
not  wish,  however,  that  any  search  should  be 
made  for  him. 

The  elder  Carney  confessed  that  he  had  en- 
tered the  house  by  way  of  the  second-story  win- 
dow, which  proved  that  Sophy  had  not  dreamed 
that  he  went  through  the  room,  while  his  close 
resemblance  to  his  brother  easily  accounted  for 
the  mistake  of  thinking  that  it  was  Dave.  The 
only  wonder  was,  that  no  one  had  remembered 
the  brother  before,  but  as  he  had  been  seen 
only  by  Peter  and  Sophy,  perhaps  that  was  not 
surprising. 

One  day,  in  early  September,  when  the  sky  was 
blue,  and  goldenrod  and  asters  were  in  bloom, 
when  the  birds  were  preparing  for  their  flight 
southward,  and  squirrels  were  busy  with  their 


MRS.   WENTWORTH  WARD  CHANGES  HER   OPINION.     331 

preparations  for  the  winter,  Victoria,  Peter,  and 
Sophy  were  walking  home  from  Ashmont,  two 
miles  away.  They  left  the  road  at  a  certain 
point,  and  striking  into  the  woods,  followed  a 
scarcely  perceptible  path,  which  would  in  time 
bring  them  to  their  own  pasture  land. 

It  was  a  glorious  day  to  be  out  of  doors,  and 
in  the  free  woods.  The  air  was  cool  and  crisp, 
and  yet  the  sun  had  a  certain  warmth  which  was 
good  to  feel  when  they  emerged  from  the  woods 
and  found  themselves  beneath  the  open  sky. 

Peter's  leg  was  entirely  well  now,  and  he  walked 
without  even  the  suggestion  of  a  limp.  The  ac- 
cident had  been  a  severe  trial  in  many  ways,  but 
his  sisters  had  said  to  one  another  more  than 
once  during  the  summer,  that  Peter  had  borne 
it  manfully,  and  had  proved  that  he  was  pos- 
sessed of  plenty  of  pluck.  He  was  much  less 
impatient  of  control,  than  he  once  had  been,  and 
indeed  the  girls  were  less  exacting.  Honor  and 
Katherine  discovered,  slowly  but  surely,  that  there 
were  other  ways  of  influencing  Peter,  and  prob- 
ably all  boys,  than  by  argument  or  command,  and 
they  acknowledged,  at  last,  that  Victoria's  method 
was  more  efficacious  than  theirs. 


332  A   SUCCESSFUL   VENTURE. 

"  Suppose  we  sit  on  the  rock  for  a  while,"  said 
Vic,  as  they  walked  along  the  cart  road  in  the 
pasture.  "  It  is  too  lovely  to  go  indoors,  or  even 
to  go  home.  Vacation  will  soon  be  over,  and  we 
had  better  make  the  most  of  our  few  days. 
Heigh-ho !  I  don't  want  to  go  back  to  school  a 
bit.  I  did  hope  that  I  could  stay  at  home  after 
this,  and  help  the  others,  but  they  all  seem  to 
think  it  is  more  my  duty  to  go  for  another  year." 

They  had  climbed  the  huge  mass  of  rock  which 
long  ages  ago  had  been  piled  there  in  gigantic  con- 
fusion. Lichen  grew  over  it  now,  bushes  had 
found  root  in  the  crevices,  and  mosses  and  grass 
made  soft  resting-places  upon  the  top.  It  was  Vic- 
toria's favorite  spot  upon  the  place,  and  she  par- 
ticularly loved  it  on  a  golden  September  day  like 
the  present  one. 

"  I  shouldn't  think  you'd  mind  your  school  a  bit," 
said  Peter.  "  What  would  you  do  if  you  had  to  go 
to  that  hateful  one  that  I  go  to  ?  Do  you  know, 
Vic,  I've  half  a  mind  to  accept  Aunt  Sophia's  offer 
and  go  to  boarding-school  ?  " 

"  Peter,  you  don't  really  mean  it  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  do.  I  was  talking  to  Mr.  Madison  the 
other  day,  and  he  advised  me  to.  He  thinks  I'll 


MRS.    WENTWORTH  WARD  CHANGES  HER  OPINION.     333 

get  a  better  education.  And  after  all,  Vic,  it's 
pretty  good  of  Aunt  Sophia  to  offer  it  again  after 
our  refusing  everything  last  winter." 

"  I  know,"  said  Victoria ;  "  I  feel  as  if  we  had  mis- 
judged Aunt  Sophia.  She  means  to  be  kind  to  us, 
and  if  she  has  that  unfortunate  way  of  acting  as  if 
she  wanted  to  run  the  entire  universe,  I  suppose  we 
ought  to  make  the  best  of  it.  It  is  only  her  dispo- 
sition, and  as  she  has  had  plenty  of  money  all  her 
life,  and  no  one  to  interfere  with  her,  I  suppose 
there  is  some  excuse  for  it.  She  really  has  been 
very  nice  this  summer,  and  it  didn't  turn  out  as 
badly  as  I  was  afraid  it  would.  After  all,  Peter,  I 
think  you  are  right.  We  oughtn't  to  refuse  every- 
thing she  offers,  and  it  would  be  of  great  advantage 
to  you  to  go  to  St.  Asaph's.  If  only  she  allows  the 
rest  of  us  to  continue  to  earn  our  living  in  peace!" 

"  Look,  Vic ! "  exclaimed  Sophy,  in  an  excited 
whisper.  "  Who  is  that  peeping  up  over  the  river 
bank  ?  Look,  Peter !  " 

They  gazed  in  the  direction  that  Sophy  indicated, 
but  could  see  nothing. 

"  I'm  sure  it  was  somebody,"  continued  Sophy, 
still  in  the  same  eager  whisper,  "  and  it  looked  like 
Dave  Carney ! " 


334  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

At  this  Peter  jumped  to  his  feet,  and  nimbly  leap- 
ing from  rock  to  rock,  ran  to  the  river  bank  some 
little  distance  away.  The  girls  watched  him. 
They  saw  that  he  was  speaking  to  some  one  below 
the  bank.  He  did  not  return,  and  unable  to  re- 
strain their  curiosity  further,  they  too  left  the  rock 
and  followed  him.  They  found  him  in  earnest  con- 
versation with  a  boy  in  a  boat,  and  that  boy  was 
David  Carney. 

"  Why,  Dave !  "  cried  Victoria  ;  "  have  you  come 
back  ?  I  am  so  glad  to  see  you  !  " 

Dave  shyly  pulled  off  his  cap. 

"  He  says  he  hasn't  come  back  to  us,"  said  Peter. 
"  He  didn't  mean  us  to  see  him.  He  only  came 
to  take  a  look  at  the  place." 

"  Why  did  you  run  away,  Dave  ? "  asked  Vic- 
toria. 

"  I  ran  away  because  I  knowed  it  was  Jim," 
said  Carney,  looking  up  at  her  as  she  stood  above 
him  on  the  bank.  "  He  always  said  he  was  agoing 
to  break  into  your  house  sometime.  He  wanted 
me  to  help,  but  I  wouldn't  have  nothing  to  do 
with  it.  That  made  him  mad,  and  we  had  a 
quarrel.  Jim  got  into  bad  company  down  at  Ford- 
ham,  and  I  guess  they  got  him  into  this  scrape." 


MRS.  WENT  WORTH  WARD  CHANGES  HER  OPINION.     335 

"  I  always  thought  your  brother  couldn't  be 
a  very  nice  person,"  said  Sophy,  who  had  been 
watching  Dave  with  round  and  solemn  eyes.  "  He 
used  regular  swear  words  that  day  I  met  him 
with  you." 

"  I'd  have  been  as  bad  myself  if  it  hadn't  been 
for  you  folks,"  said  Dave.  "  I'd  have  gone  straight 
after  him  if  you  hadn't  caught  me  that  time  when 
I  was  stealing  those  apples,"  he  added,  looking  at 
Peter.  "  I  only  did  that  because  I  was  hungry. 
It  was  the  first  time,  but  I  guess  it  wouldn't  have 
been  the  last.  That  morning  when  they  told  me 
there 'd  been  a  robbery,  I  knowed  it  was  Jim,  and 
I  couldn't  stay.  I  knowed  you'd  think  it  was 
me  that  done  it  if  I  ran  away,  but  I  couldn't  stay 
in  the  place  where  you  folks  had  been  so  good 
to  me,  and  my  own  brother  had  broke  into  the 
'house." 

"  And  what  have  you  been  doing  ever  since  ? " 
asked  Peter. 

"  I  hid  for  a  few  days.  Then  I  heard  Jim  was 
caught,  so  after  that  I  went  to  Boston  and  got 
some  work  off  and  on  down  on  the  wharves.  I'm 
out  of  it  now,  and  I  came  out  to  Fordham,  and  a 
fellow  I  know  loaned  me  this  here  boat,  and  I 


336  A  SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

couldn't  help  coming  up  to  see  how  it  looked  here. 
I  didn't  mean  you  to  see  me." 

"  And  will  you  come  back  to  us  now  ? "  asked 
Peter. 

"  Come  back !  "  repeated  Dave.  "  You  don't 
want  me  to  come  back,  and  me  running  away, 
and  having  a  brother  in  jail  for  robbing  you?" 

"  Why,  of  course !  I  never  supposed  you  had 
anything  to  do  with  it.  I  said  so  all  along." 

Dave's  eyes  rested  upon  the  other  boy's  face 
with  an  expression  of  dog-like  devotion.  Then  he 
turned  to  Victoria. 

"No,  he  never  did  think  so,"  said  she;  "but  I 
must  confess,  Dave,  that  when  you  ran  away,  the 
rest  of  us  doubted  you.  But  we  must  talk  to  my 
sisters  about  it.  Will  you  come  up  to-night  and 
hear  what  they  think  ? " 

And  Carney  promised  that  he  would. 

The  Starrs  returned  to  the  house  in  great  ex- 
citement, eager  to  impart  their  news  to  the  sisters 
at  once,  but  they  found  a  still  greater  surprise 
awaiting  them.  On  the  piazza  were  Aunt  Sophia 
and  Mr.  Abbott  in  earnest  conversation.  Mr.  Ab- 
bott, whom  they  had  not  seen  at  Glen  Arden  for 
so  many  months !  He  had  been  abroad  for  his 


MRS.   WENTWORTH  WARD  CHANGES  HER   OPINION.     337 

health,  and  although  his  wards  knew  that  his 
steamer  was  in,  they  had  scarcely  expected  to  see 
him  so  soon. 

"  To  tell  you  the  truth,  Dickinson,"  Mrs.  Went- 
worth  Ward  was  saying  as  Peter  and  his  sisters 
came  around  the  corner  of  the  house,  "  even  though 
I  so  strongly  disapproved  of  their  plans  at  first, 
I  am  really  quite  proud  of  the  girls.  They  have 
done  well,  and  they  deserve  to  succeed.  If  Peter 
will  only  do  as  I  wish  and  go  to  St.  Asaph's  — " 

Here  she  stopped,  for  Peter  himself  came  into 
sight,  but  her  remarks  proved  that  in  spite  of  all 
that  had  been  said  to  the  contrary,  Mrs.  Went- 
worth  Ward  was  broad-minded  enough  to  know 
when  she  was  mistaken,  and  generous  enough  to 
acknowledge  the  fact. 

Honor  and  Katherine  came  home  from  an  er- 
rand which  they  had  been  doing  at  almost  the 
same  moment  that  Peter  and  the  younger  sisters 
returned,  and  the  welcome  which  Mr.  Abbott  re- 
ceived proved  that  they  were  indeed  glad  to  see 
him  again. 

There  was  much  to  be  told  to  him,  the  history 
of  the  summer  and  of  the  robbery,  and  now  the 
account  that  Peter  and  Vic  had  to  give  of  the 


338  A   SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

meeting  with  Carney.  They  were  so  sure  of 
Dave's  innocence  of  any  complicity  in  the  affair 
that  it  was  impossible  for  the  others  not  to  be 
impressed  by  their  story,  and  even  Mrs.  Went- 
worth  Ward  gave  an  unwilling  assent  to  his  be- 
ing taken  back  for  another  trial.  Therefore  it 
was  decided  that  when  Dave  should  come  for  his 
answer  that  night  he  was  to  be  told  to  stay. 

"  But  what  about  these  Madisons  whom  I  hear 
quoted  so  much  ?  "  said  Mr.  Abbott,  looking  quizzi- 
cally from  one  to  the  other  of  his  wards. 

"  The  nicest  people  in  the  world,"  said  Katherine, 
eagerly.  "We  have  had  such  a  lovely  time  with 
them  this  summer,  Mr.  Abbott !  Miss  Madison  is 
the  most  charming  woman  I  ever  knew.  We  play 
together  a  great  deal,  she  on  the  violin  and  I  on 
the  piano.  There  is  a  brother,  Roger,  too,  who  is 
very  nice.  We  all  like  them  immensely." 

Victoria,  Peter,  and  Sophy  joined  in  the  chorus 
of  praise,  as  did  even  Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward,  but 
Honor  was  noticeably  silent. 

Mr.  Abbott  remained  to  dinner  and  even  to  sup- 
per also,  staying  long  enough  to  see  Dave  Carney 
and  convince  himself,  as  he  did  the  moment  he 
looked  at  him,  that  he  was  an  honest  fellow.  He 


MA'S.    WENTWORTH  WARD   CHANGES  HER   OPINION.     339 

also  desired  to  meet  Miss  Madison  and  her  brother, 
about  whom  he  had  heard  so  much.  When  he 
finally  returned  to  Boston,  there  was  a  twinkle  in  his 
kind  eyes  and  a  satisfied  expression  upon  his  face. 

He  had  heard  now  a  complete  history  of  the  past 
year,  and  he  felt  confident  that  the  coming  one 
would  be  even  more  of  a  success.  The  Starrs  had 
tried  their  wings  and  had  proved  that  they  could 
fly. 

That  same  evening  Mrs.  Wentworth  Ward 
called  Victoria  into  her  room. 

"  My  dear,"  she  said,  "  do  you  remember  what  I 
said  to  you  one  day  in  the  early  summer  in  regard 
to  Katherine  and  young  Madison  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Aunt  Sophia,  I  do  indeed !  "  replied  Vic. 

"  I  want  to  tell  you  something  else,  then,"  said 
her  aunt.  "  I  think  I  was  mistaken.  In  fact,  I 
find  that  I  have  made  a  number  of  mistakes  about 
you  all.  I  think  now  that  it  is  friendship,  mere 
friendship,  between  him  and  Katherine.  It  is  very 
rare,  but  this  time  I  believe  it  to  be  the  case. 
Katherine  finds  the  sister  more  absorbing  and  inter- 
esting than  the  brother,  and  the  real  object  of  his 
interest  is  not  Katherine,  but  Honor.  I  think  you 
will  find  that  I  am  right." 


340  A    SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE. 

And  after  events  proved,  greatly  to  Mrs.  Went- 
worth  Ward's  own  satisfaction,  and  indeed  to  that 
of  all  concerned,  that  she  had  indeed  guessed  cor- 
rectly. 

And  when  Honor  was  told  by  Roger  and  Vic- 
toria together  that  he  was  "  the  man  who  bought 
the  etching,"  she  took  the  news  so  quietly  that  Vic- 
toria came  to  the  conclusion  that  much-dreaded 
events  never  turn  out  to  be  as  unpleasant  as  one 
fears  that  they  will  be,  —  a  conclusion  that  was 
frequently  proved  to  be  a  true  one  during  the  re- 
mainder of  her  life. 


THE  END. 


W.  A.  Wilde  <5r>  Co.,  Publishers. 


SUCCESS.      BY  ORISON   SWETT  HARDEN.      Author  of 
^J     "Pushing  to   the  Front,"  "Architects  of  Fate,"  etc.     317  pp. 
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It  is  doubtful  whether  any  success  books  for  the  young  have  appeared  in  modem  times 
which  are  so  thoroughly  packed  from  lid  to  lid  with  stimulating,  uplifting,  and  inspiring 
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agraph nor  a  single  line  of  useless  moralizing  in  any  of  his  books. 

To  stimulate,  inspire,  and  guide  is  the  mission  of  his  latest  book,  "  Success,"  and 
helpfulness  is  its  keynote.  Its  object  is  to  spur  the  perplexed  youth  to  act  the  Columbus 
to  his  own  undiscovered  possibilities ;  to  urge  him  not  to  wait  for  great  opportunities, 
but  to  seize  common  occasions  and  make  them  great,  for  he  cannot  tell  when  fate  may 
take  his  measure  for  a  higher  place. 

rHE  ROMANCE  OF  DISCOVERY;  or,  a  Thousand 
Years  of  Discovery,  etc.  BY  WM.  ELLIOT  GRIFFIS.  305  pp. 
Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  element  of  romance  is  present  in  even  the  dryest  history,  but  it  is  only  as  this 
romantic  element  is  recognized  and  due  weight  given  to  it  that  history  is  properly  told. 
Dr.  Griffis  understands  perfectly  the  importance  of  this  element  in  writing  history,  and  it 
is  this  that  makes  his  books  so  readable.  Probably  no  work  has  appeared  recently  which 
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work  of  discovery  of  the  new  world.  This  new  volume  of  Dr.  Griffis's  gives  promise 
of  being  one  of  the  most  popular  and  important  contributions  to  American  history  which 
has  appeared  during  the  present  year. 


War  of  the  Revolution  Series. 

JT WASHINGTON'S  YOUNG  AIDS.     A  Story  of  the 
rr        New  Jersey  Campaign,  1776-1777.     BY  EVERETT  T.  TOMLIN- 
SON, Ph.  D.    391  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  crisis  of  the  early  days  of  the  Revolution  was  met  and  passed  during  the  Trenton 
campaign.  As  a  fact  in  history  this  is  well  understood,  but  the  details  of  this  memorable 
campaign  are  less  familiar. 

The  existence  of  British  prisons  and  prison  ships,  in  which  the  Continental  soldiers 
were  crowded  to  an  unbearable  extent,  forms  a  picture  of  this  contest  which  is  often 
overlooked.  Dr.  Tomlinson's  greatest  success  lies  in  the  clearness  with  which  he  draws 
a  picture  of  the  actual  conditions  which  existed  during  the  Revolution.  The  boys  will 
be  eager  for  this  new  volume. 

rHREE  COLONIAL  BOYS.  A  Story  of  the  Times 
of  '76.  BY  EVERETT  T.  TOMLINSON,  Ph.  D.  368  pp.  Cloth, 
$1.50. 

It  is  a  story  of  three  boys  who  were  drawn  into  the  events  of  the  times  is  patriotic, 
exciting,  clean,  and  healthful,  and  instructs  without  appearing  to.  The  heroes  are  manly 
boys,  and  no  objectionable  language  or  character  is  introduced.  The  lessons  of  courage 
and  patriotism  especially  will  be  appreciated  in  this  day. —  Boston  Transcript. 

rHREE  YOUNG  CONTINENTALS.  A  Story  of 
the  American  Revolution.  BY  EVERETT  T.  TOMLINSON,  Ph.  D. 
364  pp.  Cloth,  $1.50. 

This  story  is  historically  true.  It  is  the  best  kind  of  a  story  either  for  boys  or  girls, 
and  is  an  attractive  method  of  teaching  history.  — Journal  of  Education,  Boston. 

Boston:   W.  A.  Wilde  &•  Co.,  25  Bromfield Street. 


W.  A.  Wilde  <Sr»  Co.,  Publishers. 


Brain  and  Brawn  Series. 

CT'HE  BEACH  PATROL.     A  Story  of  the  Life-Saving 
_/       Service.     BY  WILLIAM  DRYSDALE.    318  pp.    Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  dangers  and  excitement  of  the  Life-Saving  Service  are  very  graphically  described 
and  add  to  the  general  interest  of  the  book.  The  real  value  of  the  story,  however,  lies 
in  the  fact,  so  clearly  set  forth,  that  it  is  possible  for  an  earnest  young  man,  of  sterling 
integrity,  to  make  an  honorable  place  for  himself  in  the  world.  It  is  a  strong  book, 
good  for  boys  and  young  men. 

rHE    YOUNG   REPORTER.     A    Story  of  Printing 
House  Square.    BY  WILLIAM  DRYSDALE.    300  pp.    Cloth,  $1.50. 

I  commend  the  book  unreservedly.  —  Golden  Rule. 

"The  Young  Reporter"  is  a  rattling  book  for  boys.  —  Neva  York  Recorder. 

The  best  boys'  book  I  ever  read.  —  Mr.  Phillips,  Critic  for  New  York  Times. 

rHE   FAST  MAIL.     The  Story  of  a  Train  Boy.     BY 
WILLIAM  DRYSDALE.    328  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

"  The  Fast  Mail  "  is  one  of  the  very  best  American  books  for  boys  brought  out  this 
season.  Perhaps  there  could  be  no  better  confirmation  of  this  assertion  than  the  fact 
that  the  little  sons  of  the  present  writer  have  greedily  devoured  the  contents  of  the  vol- 
ume, and  are  anxious  to  know  how  soon  they  are  to  get  a  sequel. —  The  Art  Amateur, 
New  York. 


Travel-Adventure  Series. 

VER  THE  ANDES;   or,   Our  Boys  in  New  South 
America.      BY    HEZEKIAH    BUTTERWORTH.      368  pp.     Cloth, 

$i.  So- 
South  America  to-day  presents  a  most  interesting  subject  for  study.  Its  history  is  one 
of  a  constant  struggle  for  liberty  against  oppression.  The  cruelty  and  avarice  of  the 
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people.  Out  of  the  terrors  of  the  Revolution  came  liberty  and  the  wonderful  commercial 
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The  subject  is  an  inspiring  one,  and  Mr.  Butterworth  has  done  full  justice  to  the  high 
ideals  which  have  inspired  the  great  men  of  South  America. 

'N  WILD  AFRICA.  Adventures  of  Two  Boys  in  the 
Sahara  Desert,  etc.  BY  THOS.  W.  KNOX.  325  pp.  Cloth, 
$1.50. 

A  story  of  absorbing  interest.  —  Boston  Journal. 

Our  young  people  will  pronounce  it  unusually  good.  —  Albany  Argus. 

He  has  struck  a  popular  note  in  his  latest  volume.  —  Springfield  Republican. 

rHE   LAND    OF  THE  KANGAROO.      BY  THOS. 
W.  KNOX.     Adventures  of  Two  Boys  in  the  Great  Island  Con- 
tinent.    318  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 
His  descriptions  of  the  natural  history  and  botany  of  the  country  are  very  interesting. 

—  Detroit  Free  Press. 

The  actual  truthfulness  of  the  book  needs  no  gloss  to  add  to  its  absorbing  interest. 

—  The  Book  Buyer,  New  York. 

Boston  :  W.  A.  Wilde  &>  Co.,  25  Bromfield  Street. 

* 


I 


W.  A.  Wilde  &>  Co.,  Publishers. 


Fighting  for  the  Flag  Series. 

ll/TIDSHIPMAN  JACK.      BY  CHAS.   LEDYARD   NOR- 
J.VJ.     TON.     290  pp.     Cloth,  $1.25. 

In  the  third  volume  of  the  "  Fighting  for  the  Flag  Series,"  Jack  is  commissioned  a 
midshipman  in  the  navy  ;  but  while  on  his  way  North  to  join  his  class  in  Newport,  where 
the  Academy  then  was.  he  finds  himself  most  unexpectedly  on  duty  and  in  active  service. 
In  those  days  naval  cadets  were  hurried  through  the  Naval  Academy  with  as  little  delay 
as  possible,  and  Jack  soon  receives  an  assignment  to  duty  under  one  of  his  former  ship- 
mates. 


CV 
J 


BENSON'S  LOG;  or,  Afloat  with  the  Flag  in 
'61.     BY  CHARLES  LEDYARD  NORTON.    281  pp.     Cloth,  $1.25. 

An  unusually  interesting  historical  story,  and  one  that  will  arouse  the  loyal  impulses 
of  every  American  boy  or  girl.  The  story  is  distinctly  superior  to  anything  ever 
attempted  along  this  line  before.  —  The  Independent. 

A  story  that  will  arouse  the  loyal  impulses  of  every  American  boy  and  girl.  —  The 
Press. 

/I  MEDAL  OF  HONOR  MAN;  or,  Cruising  among 
^2.  Blockade  Runners.  BY  CHARLES  LEDYARD  NORTON.  280  pp. 
Cloth,  $1.25. 

A  bright,  breezy  sequel  to  "  Jack  Benson's  Log."  -The  book  has  unusual  literary 
excellence.  —  The  Book  Buyer,  New  York. 

A  stirring  story  for  boys.  —  The  Journal,  Indianapolis. 

SUCCESSFUL    VENTURE.     BY  ELLEN  DOUGLAS 
DELAND.    340  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

"  The  best  story  Miss  Deland  ever  wrote,"  says  a  critic  who  is  familiar  with  the 
great  success  which  attended  the  publication  of  both  "  Malvern  "  and  "  Oakleigh." 

I  n  the  first  place,  she  knows  girls  and  young  women,  and  in  the  second,  she  knows  how 
to  write  about  them.  Her  success  has  been  wonderful,  and  yet  in  every  sense  merited. 
"A  Successful  Venture"  tells  the  story  of  a  family  of  girls  who  found  it  necessary  to 
make  their  own  way  in  the  world.  They  had  a  good  deal  to  learn,  and  experience  is  ex- 
pensive, but  they  manage  to  meet  all  their  obligations,  with  something  to  spare. 

Tl/TALVERN,  A  NEIGHBORHOOD   STORY.      BY 
J.VJ.     ELLEN  DOUGLAS  DELAND.    341  pp.     Cloth,  $1.50. 

Her  descriptions  of  boys  and  girls  are  so  true,  and  her  knowledge  of  their  ways  is 
so  accurate,  that  one  must  feel  an  admiration  for  her  complete  mastery  of  her  chosen 
field.—  The  Argus,  Albany. 

Miss  Deland  was  accorded  a  place  with  Louisa  M.  Alcott  and  Nora  Perry  as  a  suc- 
cessful writer  of  books  for  girls.  We  think  this  praise  none  too  high.  —  The  Post, 
Washington. 


A 


ORCUTT.     A  Sequel  to  "  The  Orcutt  Girls."     BY 
CHARLOTTE  M.  VAILE.     330  pp.    Cloth,  $1.50. 

That  the  old-fashioned  story  still  has  a  charm  has  been  amply  demonstrated  by  the 
popularity  of  Mrs.  Vaile's  "  Orcutt  Girls,"  and  a  no_  less  hearty  welcome  awaits  the 
sequel,  "  Sue  Orcutt,"  which  finishes  the  story  just  as  it  should  be  ended. 

rHE  ORCUTT  GIRLS;  or,  One  Term  at  the  Academy. 
BY  CHARLOTTE  M.  VAILE.    316  pp.    Cloth,  $1.50. 

Two  types  of  New  England  girlhood  are  illustrated  in  "  The  Orcutt  Girls  "—one  the 
brisk,  practical,  domestic  girl  with  a  genius  for  housekeeping;  the  other,  the  dreamy, 
studious,  and  imaginative,  with  the  true  New  England  appetite  for  knowledge. 

Boston:   W.  A.  Wilde  &*  Co.,  25  Bromfield  Street. 
3 


W.  A.  Wilde  &•>  Co.,  Publishers. 


nERAPff,  THE  LITTLE  VIOLINISTE.  BY  MRS. 
O  C.  V.  JAMIESON.  300  pp.  Cloth,  $1.50. 

The  scene  of  the  story  is  the  French  quarter  of  New  Orleans,  and  charming  bits  of 
local  color  add  to  its  attractiveness.  —  Tlie  Boston  Journal. 

Perhaps  the  most  charming  story  she  has  ever  written  is  that  which  describes  Seraph, 
the  little  violiniste. —  Transcript,  Boston, 

ABOVE  THE  RANGE.  BY  THEODORA  R.  JENNESS. 
^2  332  pp.  Cloth,  $1.25. 

The  quaintness  of  the  characters  described  will  be  sure  to  make  the  story  very  pop- 
ular.—  Book  News,  Phila. 

A  book  of  much  interest  and  novelty.  —  The  Book  Buyer,  New  York. 

QUARTERDECK  AND  FOK'SLE.  BY  MOLLY 
^J  ELLIOTT  SEAWELL.  272  pp.  Cloth,  $1.25. 

^^«-Miss  Seawell  has  done  a  notable  work  for  the  young  people  of  our  country  in  her 
excellent  stories  of  naval  exploits.  They  are  of  the  kind  that  causes  the  reader,  no  mat- 
ter whether  young  or  old,  to  thrill  with  pride  and  patriotism  at  the  deeds  of  daring  of 
the  heroes  of  our  navy. 

G  CYPRESS.     BY  KIRK  MUNROE.     164  pp.     Cloth, 
$1.00. 

If  there  is  a  man  who  understands  writing  a  story  for  boys  better  than  another,  it  is 
Kirk  Munroe.  —  Springfield  Republican. 

A  capital  writer  of  boys'  stories  is  Mr.  Kirk  Munroe. —  Outlook. 

TfOREMAN  JENNIE.    BY  AMOS  R.  WELLS.    A  Young 
JL         Woman  of  Business.     268  pp.     Cloth,  $1.25. 
It  is  a  delightful  story.  —  The  Advance,  Chicago. 
It  is  full  of  action.  —  The  Standard,  Chicago. 
A  story  of  decided  merit.  —  The  Epworth  Herald,  Chicago. 

-MYSTERIOUS  VOYAGE  OF  THE  DAPHNE. 
2rJ.  BY  LIEUT.  H.  P.  WHITMARSH.  305  pp.  Cloth,  $1.25. 

One  of  the  best  collections  of  short  stories  for  boys  and  girls  that  has  been  published 
in  recent  years.  Such  writers  as  Hezekiah  Butterworth,  Wm.  O.  Stoddard,  and  Jane  G. 
Austin  have  contributed  characteristic  stories  which  add  greatly  to  the  general  interest  of 
the  book. 

T^HILIP  LEICESTER.     BY  JESSIE  E.  WRIGHT.      264 

X^    pp.     Cloth,  $1.25. 

The  book  ought  to  make  any  reader  thankful  for  a  good  home,  and  thoughtful  for  the 
homeless  and  neglected.  —  Golden  Rule. 

The  story  is  intensely  interesting.  —  Christian  Inquirer. 

CAP'N  THISTLETOP.     BY  SOPHIE  SWETT.     282  pp. 
Cloth,  $1.25. 

Sophie  Swett  knows  how  to  please  young  folks  as  well  as  old ;  for  both  she  writes 
simple,  unaffected,  cheerful  stories  with  a  judicious  mingling  of  humor  and  plot.  Such 
a  story  is  "  Cap'n  Thistletop." —  The  Outlook. 

rHE  MARJORIE  BOOKS.     EDITED  BY  Miss  LUCY 
WHEELOCK.     6  Vols.     Over  200  Illustrations.     The  Set,  $1.50. 
A  very  attractive  set  of  books  for  the  little  folks,  full  of  pictures  and  good  stories. 

OTS  LIBRAR  Y.    EDITED  BY  Miss  LUCY  WHEELOCK. 

10  Vols.     Over  400  Illustrations.     The  Set,  $2.50. 
In  every  way  a  most  valuable  set  of  books  for  the  little  people.     Miss  Wheelock 
possesses  rare  skill  in  interesting  and  entertaining  the  little  ones. 

Boston :   IV.  A.  Wilde  &*  Co.,  25  Bromfield  Street. 

4 


W.  A.  Wilde  &•>  Co.,  Publishers. 


rHE  BEACON  LIGHT  SERIES.     EDITED  BY  NAT- 
ALIE L.  RICE.     5  Vols.     Fully  Illustrated.    The  Set,  $2.50. 

The  stories  contained  in  this  set  of  books  are  all  by  well-known  writers,  carefully 
selected  and  edited,  and  they  cannot,  therefore,  fail  to  be  both  helpful  and  instructive 

L 

The  story  of  a  little  boy  and  girl  who  did  not  know  the  meaning  of  the 
dience."    They  learned  the  lesson,  however,  after  some  trying  experiences. 

rHE  MOONSTONE  RING.      BY  JENNY  CHAPPELL. 
n8pp.     With  6  Illustrations.     75  cents. 


AD Y  BETTY'S  TWINS.     BY  E.  M.  WATERWORTH. 
117  pp.     With  12  Illustrations.     75  cents. 


word  "  obe- 


A  home  story  with  the  true  ring  to  it.    The  happenings  of  the  story  are  somewhat  out 
of  the  usual  run  of  events. 


SELECT  NOTES.     BY  F.  N.  PELOU- 
JT     BET,  D.  D.,  and  M.  A.  PELOUBET.     A  Commentary  on  the  Inter- 
national Sunday-School  Lessons.     Illustrated.     340  pp.     Cloth, 

$1.25. 

This  commentary  is  the  one  book  every  teacher  must  have  in  order  to  do  the  best 
work.  It  interprets  the  Scripture,  illustrates  the  truths,  and  by  striking  comments 
convinces  the  mind. 

It  is  comprehensive,  and  yet  not  verbose,  and  furnishes  winnowed  material  in  the 
most  attractive  and  yet  convincing  form  from  both  spiritual  and  practical  standpoints. 
Accurate  colored  maps  and  profuse  original  illustrations  illuminate  the  text,  and  create 
an  intelligent  and  instructive  view  of  the  subject  matter. 

Teachers  are  invited  to  send  for  sample  pages  of  "  Select  Notes." 

TJ/AYS  OF  WORKING;  or,  Helpful  Hints  to  Sunday- 
rV  School  Workers  of  all  Kinds.  BY  REV.  A.  F.  SCHAUFFLER, 
D.  D.  216  pp.  Cloth,  $1.00. 

A  really  helpful  manual  for  Sunday-school  workers.  —  The  Sunday-school  Times. 

It  unlocks  the  door  to  the  treasure-house  of  Sunday-school  success.  —  F.  N. 
Peloubet,  D.  D. 

The  best  all-around  book  for  a  Sunday-school  worker  I  know  of.  —  Marion  Law- 
rence, Sec'y  Ohio  State  S.  S.  Association. 

Will  take  rank  at  once  in  Sunday-school  literature,  not  only  as  a  standard  publica- 
tion, but  as  one  of  the  most  influential.  —  Congregationalist,  Boston. 

Cannot  fail  to  be  of  value  in  the  hands  ofall  Sunday-school.workers.  —  W.H.  Hall, 
Sec'y  of  Conn.  State  S.  S.  Association. 

This  book  absolutely  covers  every  phase  of  Sunday-school  work  in  a  clear,  instruc- 
tive manner,  and  cannot  fail  to  be  of  marked  benefit  to  every  worker.  Send  for  sample 
pages. 

SPECIAL  SONGS  AND  SER  VICES  for  Primary  and 
O  Intermediate  Classes.  Compiled  by  Mrs.  M.  G.  KENNEDY.  160 
pp.  Price,  45  cents;  $40.00  per  hundred. 

The  book  contains  Exercises  for  Christmas,  Easter,  Children's  Day,  Harvest,  etc.; 
Lessons  on  Lord's  Prayer,  Commandments,  Books  of  the  Bible,  Missions,  and  many 
other  subjects.  Adapted  to  Primary  and  Intermediate  Classes,  Junior  Endeavor  Socie- 
ties, etc. 

It  has  ninety  pages  of  new,  bright  music  for  all  occasions,  including  a  large  number 
of  Motion  Songs  that  are  now  so  popular.  We  feel  sure  the  book  will  prove  instructive, 
interesting,  and  entertaining.  It  is  printed  on  heavy  paper,  bound  in  board  covers. 
Sample  pages  sent  on  application. 

Boston:  W.  A.  Wilde  &  Co.,  25  Bromfie  Id  Street. 
S 


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